video camera advice

[wizard3739]

I would like a little advice on buying a video camera. The primary use for the camera is to make videos for utube and other similar activities. I don't want to buy something I really don't need but I would like to have a camera that will do the job. Any advice from people here on the forum would be sincerely appreciated.

wiz

[msr13]

I have two cameras. A Sony HD Hard drive, which is great, compact, etc., but comes in around a grand. Tons of features and easy to plug in mics and lights. But, I never use those things. Too complicated for me to bother. So, I picked up a Zoom Q3HD. Flash video. Fits in my pocket. Good mics. Decent picture. The thing I like it I can take a video, import it over to my computer is minutes and upload to youtube. While the quality difference is noticeable, for my purposes (easy to use), it works well. It does eat batteries, though. Here is a quick video I took. Pardon the amateurish play, but it may give you an idea of video quality. I also cut off my head. Camera is $299. Unintentional-- so the camera isn't idiot proof.

YouTube Video

[kenbennett]

Man, I love our little camera. We got it for our daughter to take on her class trip to New York. Canon SD1200. A 10 mega pixel pocket camera with a good lens and good specs for what it is. It makes decent video too. That's what I used to make my Joy Spring video. $150 plus a $15 tripod.

[kenbennett]

Originally Posted by msr13

I have two cameras. A Sony HD Hard drive, which is great, compact, etc., but comes in around a grand. Tons of features and easy to plug in mics and lights. But, I never use those things. Too complicated for me to bother. So, I picked up a Zoom Q3HD. Flash video. Fits in my pocket. Good mics. Decent picture. The thing I like it I can take a video, import it over to my computer is minutes and upload to youtube. While the quality difference is noticeable, for my purposes (easy to use), it works well. It does eat batteries, though. Here is a quick video I took. Pardon the amateurish play, but it may give you an idea of video quality. I also cut off my head. Camera is $299. Unintentional-- so the camera isn't idiot proof.

The audio in this clip is very good, and you get HD video.

[goshawk]

About a year ago, I bought my wife a Sony Bloggie (horrible name, I know). It's Sony's version of a Flip camcorder: very small, uses SD media, has a few different HD video settings so you can balance quality with memory use. Also comes with software that's supposed to automate the process of uploading to youtube and other sites. Editing capabilities of the software are limited, but otherwise it seems to work as advertised. The camera cost about $150 on sale, and I think I spent another $15 on a 4GB card.

I recently used it to shoot a friend's performance -- when we get that uploaded, I'll provide a link. One thing I'll say is that using it to record a 5 or 10 minute segment is a challenge... it's small enough that, even with anti-shake technology, every little move results in a pretty big jump in the picture. 'Course, if you put it on a tripod, that's not an issue.

[spiral]

Originally Posted by msr13

Zoom Q3HD

This was going to be my suggestion as well since it is a stereo field recorder first with a video camera tacked on.

[fep]

Has anybody tried a web cam, turning it's mic off and using an external condensor mic?

I'm just talking recording videos at my computer/music room.

I've got some condensor mics I like and it seems to me that the picture quality from a web cam is good enough. Put those two together, wouldn't I get good audio and good video?

For me that would only cost about $30 for the purchase of a web cam. And I'd be recording directly to my computer thereby skipping the step of transfering the video to the computer.

[spiral]

Yes. I do that with all of my demo videos. As long as you have a video editor to put them back together, it is a good way to go if you care more about audio quality.

[Tom Karol]

Originally Posted by spiral

This was going to be my suggestion as well since it is a stereo field recorder first with a video camera tacked on.

I have 2 videos of the same performance - one done with a digital camcorder and one done with a Zoom QR-something. The camcorder produced better video, but the Zoom produced better audio, so that's the one I'm of thinking of getting at some point.

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Tom Karol

I have 2 videos of the same performance - one done with a digital camcorder and one done with a Zoom QR-something. The camcorder produced better video, but the Zoom produced better audio, so that's the one I'm of thinking of getting at some point.

Yeah the Zoom field recorders have rave reviews at Gearslutz so it makes sense that they would get the audio right on their video product.

[matt.guitarteacher]

Think more of an audio field recorder with video than a video camera with good audio.

Edit: Sorry. I missed a previous point which said basically the same thing.

[matt.guitarteacher]

Originally Posted by fep

Has anybody tried a web cam, turning it's mic off and using an external condensor mic?

I'm just talking recording videos at my computer/music room.

I've got some condensor mics I like and it seems to me that the picture quality from a web cam is good enough. Put those two together, wouldn't I get good audio and good video?

For me that would only cost about $30 for the purchase of a web cam. And I'd be recording directly to my computer thereby skipping the step of transfering the video to the computer.

Originally Posted by spiral

Yes. I do that with all of my demo videos. As long as you have a video editor to put them back together, it is a good way to go if you care more about audio quality.

I just got a Logitech web cam for Christmas. Part of the interface is to select your own input or use the webcam mic. So if you've already got your computer set up to record with external condenser mics, you'd just select that as your audio instead of the webcam mic. I'm still getting some kind of compression/distortion between the video compression and upload to youtube.

Back to Fep's question and spiral's reply, you don't necessarily have to have a video editor to sync the audio. Some webcams will record from your audio.

[spiral]

Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher

Back to Fep's question and spiral's reply, you don't necessarily have to have a video editor to sync the audio. Some webcams will record from your audio.

Even better.