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  1. Member
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    I am looking for the cheapest-possible decent picture-quality HD camcorder with a microphone input, as sound quality is very important to me. Does anyone have any suggestions?
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  2. Member
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    I am looking for the same thing also.
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  3. Member classfour's Avatar
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    Just checked latest HD - Toshiba X100, no mic input.
    ;/ l ,[____], Its a Jeep thing,
    l---L---o||||||o- you wouldn't understand.
    (.)_) (.)_)-----)_) "Only In A Jeep"
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  4. Member zoobie's Avatar
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    Sure...I suggest you read this whole site: www.camcorderinfo.com.
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  5. Member 1st class
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    That one requirement is why I had to buy an expensive one.
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  6. years ago I actually had to mod my hi8 camera and installed a mic input. Do not know why a mic input is not more common on video cameras anymore (go back to the late 80's/ early 90s and it was common to find it)
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  7. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by festmaster View Post
    That one requirement is why I had to buy an expensive one.
    You've missed that HD will require a new computer too if you are still using that Celeron 2.6.
    Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
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  8. Member
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    I have a q4 6600 and I will not use HD again until I get a new i7 that's for sure.
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  9. Member turk690's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by loldmanjenkins View Post
    I am looking for the cheapest-possible decent picture-quality HD camcorder with a microphone input, as sound quality is very important to me. Does anyone have any suggestions?
    How much is your budget? If your production quality is important to you, capture audio externally. There are a number of flash recorders out there in a range of specs, capabilities, and costs from Sony, Zoom, m-audio etc. You can feed better external mics to these recorders, or the line outs of a mixing board, if such is being used and is available at the venue. You then drag the resulting audio file onto the appropriate track in your NLE and sync the lot.
    You can't find really cheap HD camcorders with mic inputs. The possible exception is Canon, which has retained mic inputs as standard even on their SD models. But even if there are mic inputs, there is always the matter of stringing an appropriate mic into those 1/8in jacks as any reputable mic will always be XLR balanced. This means getting an adpater like Beachtek, which are not cheap. XLR-input mic jack camcorders will tend to be prosumer and professional and necessarily be $$$$$$.
    In the end, the flash recorder trumped all else for me.
    For the nth time, with the possible exception of certain Intel processors, I don't have/ever owned anything whose name starts with "i".
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  10. Member edDV's Avatar
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    A used Canon HV20 is your best bet if on a budget.

    You can adapt XLR mics with a Beachtek or Shure A96F transformer
    http://store.shure.com/store/shure/en_US/pd/productID.104215400

    External mic input isn't enough. You also need to be able to shut AGC off and control audio manually. The HV20 has that feature + peak meter + speaker (but alas no headphone jack).
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  11. Member 2Bdecided's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by edDV View Post
    External mic input isn't enough. You also need to be able to shut AGC off and control audio manually. The HV20 has that feature + peak meter + speaker (but alas no headphone jack).
    It does - you can change the AV jack into a headphone jack via a menu setting.

    The manual level control on the HV20 is pretty good.

    Cheers,
    David.
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  12. the little canon hot shoe powered dm50 mic works well in most conditions for the hv20/30/40. i have used it extensively for concerts and vocal performances, and for the price it's great.

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/201377-REG/Canon_3176A002.html
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  13. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by 2Bdecided View Post
    Originally Posted by edDV View Post
    External mic input isn't enough. You also need to be able to shut AGC off and control audio manually. The HV20 has that feature + peak meter + speaker (but alas no headphone jack).
    It does - you can change the AV jack into a headphone jack via a menu setting.

    The manual level control on the HV20 is pretty good.

    Cheers,
    David.
    Forgot that menu.
    Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
    http://www.kiva.org/about
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