What is the best Camcorder and which the best and affordable???

Question

What is the best Camcorder and which the best and affordable???

Answer 1

see the reviews:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php

Answer 2

I think the mini DV cameras are the best way to go thse days and are easy to work with if you want to transfer to the PC for editing...all you need is a firewire.

I have a sony handycam but find it has a little too much "noise" even in high light settings so its probably not a great camera.

Look at cannons though cnet.com for reviews

Answer 3

I think your question indicates that you are relatively new to this area (digital camcorders). You didn't specify a type or a purpose for your camcorder; this will immensely impact your purchase. Do you want to film the kids playing? Make short films? Publish little videos for the web? Make tutorials? Documentaries?

What you want to do with your camcorder is the most important purchasing decision you can make. If you want to just shoot the kids playing around, and you aren't crazy about having top-notch video quality, just about any camera over $200 should do nicely for you. If you want to make short films, nothing under $400 is really going to work, not even in a pinch.

I think the best all-around camera for amateurs hobbyists is the Canon HV20. It's relatively cheap, at around $500-650, and it's got incredible quality with lots of nice features and control. For film-making wannabes, it's got 24p, which means you shoot at the same frame rate as film (video and film are completely different beasts, however).

Here's my best advice to you as you decide:  

#1  Don't buy a DVD camcorder!!! Please, they're terrible.

#2  HDD may be convenient, but it presents challenges for getting the content onto your computer and editing it. I have an HDD cam, and it's a pain in the butt to work with the (lower-quality) footage in Final Cut.

#3  MiniDV is the way to go. Many people think tapes are old school, but they are the most common media for recording video for hobbyists, and even for many documentarians, short film makers, etc. The tape can also be archived for cheap, reliable storage.

#4  Ignore the zoom. If you have 10x optical zoom, you've probably got all that you're going to want. Digital zoom is worthless, because it just takes the same quality video and blows it up (enlarges the pixels by adding more pixels around it). This hugely decreases the quality, so get your camcorder, and turn that digital zoom off. Also, zooming in and out is the sign of a true amateur.

#5  CCD, 3CCD, CMOS, what are they? They're explaining what is inside your camera picking up the light and interpreting the colors. The best is generally believed to be 3CCD (which is DEFINITELY better than a single CCD), but CMOS chips can sometimes put up a good fight for quality with 3CCD camcorders. Most consumer camcorders have been a single CCD chip, but CMOS is starting to appear as well. For best quality, grab a great CMOS cam (like the HV20), or get a 3CCD.

#6  Look up the camera's quality by viewing sample videos on a service like Vimeo (www.vimeo.com). You can't use YouTube because it compresses all the videos into a horrible quality, so find a site that offers a sample video for download, or use Vimeo (which offers HD).

#7  Visit www.camcorderinfo.com, and check out the ones you are thinking of buying. See what the experts had to say. Then, go to places like Amazon.com or other sites that sell the camera, and look at the customer reviews. Ignore complaints like "it uses tapes, I hate tapes," or "doesn't come with a firewire cable" (cause tapes are awesome, and virtually no camera comes with the necessary firewire cable to get the video onto your PC).

#8  Don't make a hasty decision! Go to the stores, and look at them. Try them out, test the feel and function of the camera. Explore them. Write down some that look good (from the video quality, features, etc). Look them up online, and repeat. Make a list of "best choices," and narrow it down based on features you want and/or cost.

and finally...

#9  Unless you found a super special unique one-of-a-kind deal, DON'T BUY AT A PHYSICAL STORE! They are always more expensive than online stores, that often sell for a hundred, two hundred, even three hundred less. Just to give you an idea of the rip-off that physical stores are (and have to be because of operating cost), let me give you an example. I purchased 2GB of RAM (two modules) for $45 online. One of those modules of RAM was $130 at the store, which means the total would have been $260 + tax. $45, $260 + tax. Hmm... easy choice, huh?

Good luck!

Answer 4

try canon or sony. i like these brands.