Where can I find a bargin Digital Camcorder?

Tinks!

Hi all,

I am looking for a digital camcorder for my holiday in a few weeks, i want a nice small one for around £160-180.
Im not sure of what ones are that good either?
I saw one in Tchibo a month ago and it was 10 mega pixels and only £160, it looked good but i didnt have the money at the time.

I will be eternally gratefull for any advice :A

Sui_Generis

You'll find very good spec Sony miniDV's on offer on Amazon in your price range.

Poppycat

A friend of mine swears by these small digital camcorder/cameras. Its a 5mp camera and hd camcorder

He just upgraded to a HD one last week and had a go myself and quality is outstanding lots of features and very good for stills. Also better than my pro camera for low light levels

Also dead easy to export to pc with supplied docking station (charger) no need to messing about.

Only draw back is the media but 4gb should last quite a while maybe not a full week on hols but get a couple of 4gb cards or upload to a laptop and its great, we are tempted to get one for Summer.

http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/prodinfo.php?prodid=2570&start=0&thislist=6~101~82

Its very cheap there most places approaching £400+ look below £599

http://www.martindawes.net/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=VPCHD1&cid=digital_photography&pcidl=&language=en-GB&extcam=sce_shop_VPCHD1

4gb SD card at 7dayshop is £25

review here
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/hd1a.html

Sui_Generis

That Sanyo and most others have been heavily criticised by David Pogue recently. If you want to hear it its a free podcast from the iTunes store.

Particular criticism of the Sanyo model was the mic in the screen back - meaning steadying it interferes with the sound recording.

Other concerns: the cards can't be read in a card reader (new card formats) so you have to connect the camera directly; "ergonomic disaster"; screen very small if recording in widescreen; still oics OK; video very poor in bright light; in low light moving pixels dominate; and +ve HDMI on dock

That's the mini transcription - hope it helps


@ Poppycat the Sanyo is also way over what the OP wanted to spend.

Jazzy_B

Canon have an outlet store on Ebay here.
I bought one from here, and it looked brand new. They come with a year's warranty.

Poppycat

Well its only £57 over at the highest of there budget. For that a HD camera and still camera in one.

I seen these cameras working, and yes I was sceptical too but they are good I seen it with my own eyes, there some artefacts with video on highest setting but not very noticeable (and I looked hard with a critical eye), also mic isnt bad its sensitive but theres no motor going and it has a wind filter in camera to block noise, my minDV has this and its still bad and picks up motor unlike this model theres no moving parts.

Working fine on a 32" hd tv with pc connected using DV output on video card to lcdtv

See this article

http://www.gadgetcentre.com/news/article/mps/UAN/752

All three camcorders on test fit their intended market perfectly; the Sony HDR-SR1E for those who take their video work seriously, the Sanyo HD1A for those who don't, and the Panasonic NV-GS300 for those who still fancy the hands-on nature of working with tape. But there can only be one winner, and the Sanyo just edges it over the Sony. The cheap price of the Sanyo HD1A proves that you don't have to pay a thousand pounds to get an HD camcorder, but at the same time means a low price also doesn't guarantee picture quality. However it really edges it over the Sony with its unique design and ease of use.

Shambler

Am I seeing things or is this refurbished at £600

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-Outlet-Digital-EOS-400D-Black-18-55-Refurbished_W0QQitemZ280125637782QQihZ018QQcategoryZ30033QQcmdZViewItem

the same as this, new at £480?

http://jessops.com/Store/s35964/0/Digital-SLRs/Canon/EOS-400D-(Black)-%2b-EFS-18-55mm-Lens/details.aspx

jpieter

I have had a SANYO HD1a for 2 weeks now (price come dowm £7 in last 2 weeks) and i have found it to be very good. As said earlier if you dont take your videoing seriously then this is ideal for you. With a very good camera and a very competent camcorder ( although you really need 2 x 4gb SD cards) it is ideal for holidays or general use and it nice and small.
By the way a 4gb sd card is only £17.99 from Play.com

http://www.play.com/Product.aspx?title=3342833&r=ELEC&PRODUCT_TITLE=Play.com+4GB+SD+HC+Memory+Card

Poppycat

Oops sorry 7dayshop is £[FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial]£15.49[/FONT]+ plus del. Play might be better for one item

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cat=6&type=6021&man=0&filterwords=&go=SEARCH&comp

Tinks!

Ah, thank you all so so much,

I normally spend hours and hours going through all the websites looking for the best price but I have never owned a camcorder before so I had no idea what I was looking for!

Thank you all again!

Poppycat

MiniDV is good heard is better than those dvd recorders, but you can get noise from the motor on some models, mine including. The Sanyo scored big points on very easy to use, very small, its pocket sized unlike minDV. The amount of times I missed a shot because I didnt have a camera with me is many times.

Sure there are better cameras but I say whats the point on having brilliant camcorder if you left it at home because you couldnt be bothered taking it with you, these just slip in your pocket