Recommend me a video camera

[madbean]

So, I really want to pick up a nice HD video camera with a decent mic or mic input to start doing some demos. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd really like to do the audio straight into the camera so I don't have to worry about syncing up separate video and audio. I'm kinda lost...I have done no research On the plus side I have some good editing software, so that's no issue.

Also, a firewire port would be great. I don't have a video capture card, though.

[JakeFuzz]

The HD camera I used for the last three videos I posted here was a Canon Vixia, I think it was an M301. Great sound quality. I had my amp up pretty loud and there wasn't much clipping at all. It is USB though. And the HD format takes like half an hour to load ~8min to youtube.

[Myramyd]

What price range do you want to stay in?

There are lots of good options these days but, based on price the recommendations change. I do a lot of pro video stuff at my day job so, we've worked with a few different cams.

It sounds like the audio inputs/quality might be most important then?

The Zoom video recorders have pretty good built-in mics and are pretty cheap. They double as a great audio-only recorder as well.

J

[madbean]

Price range would be under $600. 720p would be fine...I don't think 1080 would be necessary.

[Myramyd]

There are several Canon Vixia models under that. The video quality is quite good. Might check to see which models have external audio inputs as an option. Their mics are okay but not spectacular. If you can input a mixer with "real" mics you would be good to go. Then you would have something for family as well.

If you can get any model that uses flash memory you don't need to worry about FireWire or capture, since you just pull the files off the card like you do with a digital still cam. Then depending on what kind of editing you need to do you may or may not have to convert them. But...that's another thread...

J

[Myramyd]

To clarify, if you are using Final Cut or most pro apps, you usually have to convert the files of the cheaper cams since they are in a highly-compressed codec before you can edit them. It's not a big deal but it does take quite a bit of time depending on how long each clip is.

J

[Myramyd]

Sorry for multiple posts but, for the most part you can't go wrong with anything by Canon (preferred), Panasonic, or Sony. Sony tends to offer less options at the same price points than the other two. But with those 3 it's easiest to find support for in terms of them having methods of workflow with major editing software.

Video quality nowadays is really great. My iPhone shoots better video than the older high dollar cams I used to use at 720p (in good lighting anyway). So video isn't much of a concern. It's going to be more about whether you ultimately want the built-ins mics to sound good enough or need the option to plug in a mic. You can't get anything new with XLR inputs for that price but anything with a line in you can use a mixer and mic to get really good audio going into the camera.

Hope that helps somewhat.
J

[madbean]

I own Premier and After Effects so that is what I will most likely use. I'm looking at the Vixia HV30 now....some good used deals on them.

[Myramyd]

Yeah, although I havent used them, I've read a lot of people use those as a B-Cam and in good lighting they match up decently well with the video of the higher-dollar prosumer cams.

Those ViXia models started out around $1000 a few years ago. Tech really catches up with itself.

J

[dwstanford]

I second the canon idea.  I do a lot of video projects and have owned and used some really great cameras.  The vixia line is one of the best for the money.  I recommend you get one with an external mic input if you are going to use it to capture sound for demos.  The onboard mics are good, but an external mic will give you much more control and better quality.  I have only done a few pedal demos, but I use my home recording setup to capture the sound and then sync it up with the video on the computer.  I realized after the first one that I have all this shit for recording that's already set up and I'm using an onboard camera mic.  Pretty dumb.