New member here - help me pick out a new vid camera???

[robbieh]

Hi all. I found this great site and thought I'd join and make a post asking for help. I am in the market for a new video camera, but with all the brands and price ranges, I'm lost. So here is what I want, and I'm hoping some of you can give me some recommendations.

1080p - hey, it's 2012
very good zoom (I'd like to really zoom in with out loosing much quality. I have a 20 acre field, for example. It'd be nice to zoom right up onto the deer). lol
Night vision, or night shot - i read cams with night vision are very expensive. So from what I understand, a camera with night shot, along with a seperate Infrared Illuminator, will really do wonders as far as shooting at night. Is this accurate?
A remote would be awesome.

Also, if I plan on recording in HD for several hours, I'll need a camera that records to media that'll hold that much data.

As far as price range, I'd really prefer to keep it under $500 for the camera.

Can this all be done? I hope to get some help. Thank you!!!

[TreeTops]

Doing a Google search on night vision cameras I found most to be security or game cameras. Is that what you want?

[robbieh]

thanks for the reply. i dont specifically want a night vision camera. that is not a priority. a camera with a night shot mode, like those sony cams ive seen, would probably be ok, as long as i use an IR illumination for when i want good night shots.

i am wondering if this works? ive seen youtube vids showing this. sure, i could just buy the same cams ive seen in the vids, but many vids are older.

again, just looking for a few suggestions on a good cam...
1080p
great zoom without loss of quality
some kind of night mode i can work with
a remote
cams that record to a sdhc card... can they hold several hours of hd video? like a 32gb card, for example?

what brands are good?

thanks.

[aedipuss]

you might like to read about current cams on camcorderinfo.com and read through their best rated cams.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php

[robbieh]

thanks for the replies and that link. very useful info there!

So after much research, I've learned that the only cams (which are affordable) that offer true shooting in the dark at 0lux are the sony cams with nightshot, or super nightshot. unfortunately, newer models don't have this feature. cameras advertised as having night mode, low light mode, and so on dont truly record in total darkness, therefore wont work with an IR lamp.
if i am wrong and there are newer, affordable cams that offer this, please let me know.

so as of now, one option i have to to purchase an older sony model that has nightshot. this is ok as these are fairly inexpensive. i dont think many offer hd or recording to a harddisk or flash media, but for the few times here and there ill be shooting at night, itll be ok.
any recommendation?

[2Bdecided]

you might like to read about current cams on camcorderinfo.com and read through their best rated cams.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php

If you're in the UK, that auto redirects to the more out-of-date UK site. You can click a link back to the US site though.

It's amazing how many great camcorders still put the microphones on the top of the machine.

Two decades ago I could get far better sound from camcorders with front mounted zoom microphones. It's strange that we've gone so far backwards in audio, while the video has improved so much.

Cheers,
David.

[robbieh]

Thanks for the reply, but was hoping to get some advice on which models to look into that offer night shot mode. OR if there are newer cameras from other brands that offer night recording (0 lux) and are not crazy expensive.

[handyguy]

Sony makes night shot mode ones.