Any advice on camcorders?

Hilary · October 31, 2016, 11:22:08 AM

I've got a Sony Handycam DCR-SX50 for videoing my own gigs to send to promoters which by and large I've been happy with - I can set it up on a tripod and press record - job done.

However there are 2 main drawbacks - the quality of the recording is very poor and I have to convert the file to load it up to Youtube.

Can anyone recommend a camcorder that's good quality and easy to use and around £300 or less?

Hook · October 31, 2016, 11:54:27 AM

I love my Cannon Vixia HFR600. Cost me about $200 here. Great picture and surprisingly good sound but you can plug a mic into it also. Records onto sd, good battery life, easy transfer into wondershare and I believe you can upload to YouTube straight from the camera. It's a gem of a camera, much better picture than my Tascam DV1HD, but that one rums on regular batteries which works better in my car.
Good luck!

Hilary · October 31, 2016, 12:13:02 PM

Sounds just the ticket but it's currently unavailable (that I can find anyway).

Hook · October 31, 2016, 12:29:50 PM

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Canon/44159379?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1486&adid=22222222228031802559&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=68623164071&wl4=pla-125368491671&wl5=1015089&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=112550106&wl11=online&wl12=44159379&wl13=&veh=sem
Walmart has it for $300 not sure what that converts to nor what it would cost to ship.

thetworegs · October 31, 2016, 04:17:17 PM

Have a look for a canon eos1200D it's a still camera and a full 1080 video camera http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-EOS-1200D-18-0MP-Digital-SLR-Camera-Black-Kit-w-EF-S-18-55mm-Lens-/232126828678?hash=item360bd65086:g:ia8AAOSwnbZYCJiH i use mine for a back up but its a fab i got it of ebay just the body for £160 i think new its about 279 with a lens but a great all round camera and easy to use. with a 128gb card about £30 you've got a good 11/2 hr or more video .

64Guitars · January 30, 2017, 12:46:40 PM

I've never used a video camera so I can't speak from experience, but this new camera from Zoom looks pretty good for the money. They say it was designed for musicians.

Zoom Q2N - $159.99 / £169.00

https://www.zoom.co.jp/node/760

https://www.zoom.co.jp/products/handy-video-recorder/q2n-handy-video-recorder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjUR-Ut91lc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbrLmJ__jsI

A couple of caveats:

The wide-angle lens is great for recording in small rooms with the camera close to the subject because you get better audio closer to the source and the wide-angle lens enables you to still capture a wide video field. However, the trade-off is that there's a noticeable fisheye effect with straight lines such as walls, doors, ceilings, etc. becoming curved. There are five field-of-view settings which allow you to zoom in closer, eliminating the curvature, but that defeats the benefits of the wide field-of-view.
As shown in the video below, the Q2N can produce a very noticeable rainbow effect due to glare from overhead lights. This can be eliminated with an optional lens hood, but it's only available in a $50 accessory pack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHQ5us1GNVY