Best brand of video camera?

Question

Hii,

Does anyone know what the best brand of video camera is, has to include 'Good picture as in Not blury.. and easy to use'

and affordable? :[ Ive been looing for a long time, I wanted to get a Flip Video Ultra, but my brother told me there not the best..I really would like a flip video..but,

Any other suggestions before I go off buying something that wont work?

Answer 1

i have the flip ultra and i love it...

its so easy to use,

and yeah, it's not move-theater quality video

but it suits me just fine..

my only problem is the 4x zoom isn't much

Answer 2

For one, define "affordable" and let us know what purposes you'll be using it for.  How important is usage on a regular TV, and how important is computer connectivity?  You using it outdoors?  Indoors?  Daytime?  Low light?  Things like that would help us narrow down your search.

As for brands, I've used, all with great success:

Canon (professional camcorders, such as XL-1s)

JVC (professional camcorders)

Sony (consumer 8mm and Hi8 "Handycam", and professional Betacam SP camcorders)

Panasonic (consumer PV-GS65, and professional AG-HVX200)

There's no such thing as the "best" brand, because every camcorder is good for specific purposes.  Those four companies have a tendency to put out quality products.  You just have to know what you want to use them for.  Generally, with more money comes more features and better performance.

As for the Flip Video Ultra, for better or worse, you get what you pay for.

If you're looking for a camcorder that easily shoots video such that you can use it for casual purposes such as sharing it via computer, this thing could be for you.  It's simple, it stores to flash memory, and plugs into a computer for easy transfers.  It basically has the "YouTube" idea written all over it.

However, it's a budget camcorder, and as such, is limited in many ways.  There is no "optical" zoom in which the lens actually MOVES, so that the quality stays the same.  There's only a 2x "digital" zoom, which is really the camcorder "guessing" at what the video would look like if it was really zoomed in.  This leads to somewhat grainy video.  It uses the "MPEG-4" video format, which is great for small file sizes and sharing via computer, but won't match the quality of TV standard formats such as DV and DVD.  It makes almost all adjustments automatically, which is easy to use, but doesn't allow the user to really control exactly what he or she wants to see in the image.  So, it's going for ease of use, ease of computer connection, and decent video.

Again, it works, it'll make video, but I'm not sure if its quality will be acceptable to you.  You might love it, I don't know.  I wouldn't go for it if it was me, but I'm a serious video hobbyist who is doing this stuff for a living.  My purposes are not the same as yours.

Therefore, look at the reviews.  If you can, see if you can try it out at a local video store.  And I STRONGLY suggest the site http://www.camcorderinfo.com - great stuff on there, has helped me a few times.

If you need anything else, let us know!

Answer 3

Sony 755E

Sony 705E (Quality ok)