mcraven

hey photo friends. im looking to buy a camcorder that can do stills as well. wanting to start video taping the grand kids. I don't know where to start. any recommendations on a decent recorder. I prefer one that can record straight to dvd or mini cassette....thanks for your suggestions.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

I've been considering such a purchase for about 6 months now. May I suggest a member of the Go Pro family? Everything I've read is that they're of good quality, take good stills, waterproof, and versatile in terms of all the ways one can literally WEAR one while "filming."

lev29😜😎

willdenise Loc: Tennessee

Have you thought of using a slr camera nikon or cannon

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Your asking a short question with a long and complicated answer because there are so many choices.

First, your goal of "straight to dvd or mini cassette" is out of the question. Nothing in current production does that. Everything a consumer might buy has migrated to SD cards.

Second, everything in current production for consumers now does both video and photo. That includes smartphones on up to the best DSLRs and camcorders.

Getting beyond all the confusing choices, my recommendation for a place to start looking is the Panasonic HC-V770K Full HD Camcorder.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1109405-REG/panasonic_hc_v770_full_hd_camcorder.html

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Obviously, that's a good idea, but have you seen how tiny & lightweight these camcorders are nowadays? One can hold these little ones with one hand essentially all day long.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Typical consumer camcorders from Panasonic, Sony and Canon have a shape for holding in the palm of your hand. They also have a lens and (smaller) sensor combination optimized for video with an emphasis on stability and depth of focus. They are small and light. Unfortunately, only the most expensive even have viewfinder.

Photo cameras are optimized with (larger) sensors and lenses optimized for composition of photos with more control of things like depth of focus, exposure and composition. Most have viewfinders.

Current models of all can do both.

A general third category is a sort of hybrid where the attempt is to do equally well at both. Current examples are the Panasonic GH4 and Samsung NX1. Owners of those are often schizophrenic. One day they think they are photographers and the next they think they are videographers.

A fourth, and popular on this forum, is the "bridge camera" that tries to roll everything into one body with a long telephoto lens. The lead candidate here is the Canon SX50 or newer SX60. Neither are liked by videographers. Similar, but more expensive, are the Panasonic FZ1000 and Sony RX10 II that are admired for their video qualities.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Seriously, bsprague, that is a wonderful overview of the categories of video recording! I am intrigued that you believe the mindset of a Photographer and a Videographer are significantly different! Without intending to hijack this thread, I'd be interested in your qualifying that statement.

I'm not promoting the Go Pro line of videocameras, as I'm still sitting on the sidelines waiting to make a purchase of a new camcorder, but I'd like to know where Go Pro "sits" in your "universe" of consumer-grade videocameras.

Thank you,
lev29 :shock:

willdenise Loc: Tennessee

go to amazon.com and look at their camcord. Then go to product review or and go to youtube and look at the camera in action

mcraven

thanks for all of the replies and the knowledge you have on the subject.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Two categories I didn't mention are aerial camcorders ("drones") and action cameras like the GoPro. Sony and Panasonic make action cameras that many feel are better than the GoPro.

Photography is about capturing a story in a frozen fraction of time. Videography is about telling a story through capturing interesting motion over a significantly longer period of time. There may be brains that can process and plot for both at the same time. Mine is not one of them.

For me, videography is a significantly greater challenge than photography.

Think of a National Geographic photo of a wolf in Yellowstone. Then think about a National Geographic documentary about the reintroduction of wolves into the Yellowstone ecosystem.

Another place that the two skill differ widely is in post processing! The software for each process is VERY different.

There is an emerging new technique. You switch your brain to video think and collect the clips. When you get the footage in the computer and you see something that could be a photo, you "frame grab" it. Lightroom and a lot of other software makes it easy. Depending on a host of things, including shutter speed, the resulting JPEG can be impressive. For some of us schizophrenics it is the reason we want 4K video cameras where EVERY frame is a 8 megapixel JPEG. We can shift into video story mode and solve some of the still photo equation later. My current favorite personal favorite wall hanger is a street scene I got in Copenhagen that way.

Back to the topic. My opinion is that if you want to learn videography, get a camcorder. The act of picking it up will help your brain shift to video think. After you teach yourself to think both ways, then it might be time to buy the marvelous Panasonic GH4 that is truly a schizophrenic camera/camcorder. For less money, the Panasonic FZ1000 is pretty good too.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

If a person is brand new to video, I don't think that works very well. Panasonic, Sony and Canon don't make crappy products. Pick a brand, spend the most that you dare and then start learning. In a year or two, a newbie will know enough to understand the reviews and will be able evaluate the YouTubes.

I've been taking pictures for 60 years and videos for 4! I know I knew nothing useful about video until I bought a camcorder for $800. Then I started learning.

And, FWIW, shopping at B&H for cameras and camcorders is better than Amazon!!!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Although DSLR's can do video, there's nothing like a genuine camcorder for video. My son and I have Sony's, and they can take stills, whether they are recording video or not. As a matter of fact, they take still shots randomly while they are recording, a feature which you can turn off.

If I were looking for another camcorder, I'd read reviews and comparisons. We've always bought Sony, but Canon also has nice units. Many camcorders can act as projectors, which can be convenient.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

And they usually come with enough basic software to turn your clips into something watchable.

Generally, I prefer Sony and Panasonic over Canon for video. Canon seems to be more focused on still photography at the consumer level.

EX-TELCO Loc: Belen,New Mexico

Hi Mcraven, This is a camcorder I have had about 6 months,
it didn't cost an arm and part of a leg. Less then $200.00 and does everything I want it too.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Samsung-52-x-HMX-F90/23204506

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

GoPro cameras have heavy barrel distortion and are not high resolution, 14MP I believe. Try a Sony FDR-A33. Fine quality 4K video, 20.6MP stills (not in movie mode but in photo mode which is a switch on the side that online reviewers don't see or read about before criticizing the stills), Balanced Optical Steady Shot so you don't need a gimbal or any other stabilization rig to get stabilization as good as a SteadyCam rig, Zeiss 10X zoom, etc. For your family needs there couldn't be anything better below $1000.

I bought one to do real estate video and exterior stills but had to return it. The controls weren't able to be totally manually set for video and that was going to be my main use of the camcorder. The stills were just absolutely awesome though. Go to Best Buy to get one. Remember you have to use very high speed memory cards to record full 4K but you can use slower cards for standard HD 1080p video. If it's not the absolutely perfect solution for your needs take it back within 15 days. I don't think you'll take it back.