Best camcorder to record a music performance?

Question

If I use an additional microphone with a camcorder to record a music performance, would the sound quality be the same regardless of what camcorder I use?

Answer 1

No camcorder handheld would be great. U could use any camcorder it doesn't really matter. But to get the best sound quality you would want a seperate microphone attachment otherwise it will just sound like static and noise. With ANY camera. Unless it is professional grade and several thousand dollars.

Answer 2

You want something at least with a maunaul audio record level, and perhaps a 3.5 minijack mic input.  Ideally you want something with an XLR box.

The cheapest route to this is to get one of canon hdv models (I forget the exact model) which has a mic level and mic input, also buy a beachtek box, which will let you taki in XLR audio from a desk, at either mic or line level, the dxa-4 has two channels, one for a room mic, one for a line from a mixing desk.

Answer 3

best is a miniDV using the 16 bit audio mode. all other video formats compress the audio, either with Atrac, which is particularly poor for live music situations or MP3.  if the camera can be placed at a favorable location to pick up the audio, then the camera mic will work fine, otherwise you will need to bring in the audio using an external mic setup.