Camcorder Buying Suggestions?

[jbartosh]

Hello forum, I am considering a new or new-to-me used camcorder. I've done a fair amount of personal research, but it is very difficult to cut through advertising propoganda and get to straight specs... I thought maybe some people in the know on this subject would be willing to drop a few kind suggestions.

Specs wanted: 1. 1080/60p format - I want a long term, widely acceptable format for documentary productions and other professional level end usage. 2. External microphone port - simple 1/8" stereo jack is probably fine for my usage here, XLR would be nice but not willing to pay a ton for it. 3. Prosumer or near-about picture quality, 3cmos would be nice or very comparable color reproduction, depth & respectable low-light ability.

Features not needed: (if it will save $, I have virtually zero use for the following features) 1. large HDD (memory card or tapes are fine with me, I have the time to dump footage to external storage easy enough). 2. Projectors or other fancy viewback LCD's etc. (old style b&w eyepiece viewfinder good enough for me.) 3. Internal editing or software packages (I will either sit down and edit important stuff on my own equipment or dump B-roll as raw storage) 4. Wifi or other convenient upload gimmicks. 5. Internal burning features etc., (I won't use them and it just puts the thing at risk of failing - I want good proven & reliable technology that will last 10+ years.)

Manual Controls or Additional Lenses: Not needed, I'm not big into photography, a decent A.I. point & shoot type camera will be fine for me.

Size: I totally don't care, if it's huge and bulky that's fine with me - I'd probably prefer it actually.

Application: Will be primarily tripod mounted. I would say 70% in good lighting and 30% in either extremely dark outside shooting with staged lighting or highly contrasted/shadowy indoor places. Also some usage against green screen. Audio capture will be relied upon perhaps 60% of the time, in those cases in a very controlled environment.

Price Range: Anything that meets the above parameters would be considered, but roughly $750 USD or less in price in clearance fashion or fair market used value. To me that would seem plausible and should fit what use I have for it.

Final Thoughts: "3D?" Will this be a format to account for? Also, I am biased towards Sony. I have a 10 y.o. D8 handycam that still works flawlessly on the original battery. Also, ability to take even halway decent stills could be a big plus for me...

[smrpix]

You can go to http://www.bhphotovideo.com sort by your specs and compare. The listed specs are pretty comprehensive. Narrow it down to a few choices then post back here if you want more opinions.

[aedipuss]

1080p60 is going to limit your choices

[smrpix]

1080p60 is going to limit your choices

Agreed. Several things are going to limit his choices. Let's see what he comes back with once he's winnowed it down a bit.

[glenpinn]

have you got a budget in mind ???

what format will your finished videos be output to ???

[brunerww]

jb - for 1080/60p, your choices are pretty much Sony and Panasonic. With a $750 budget, I recommend either a new Sony HDR-CX580V for $648 or a used Panasonic X900MK for $751.47.

Both are great camcorders, both take high res still photos, and both record sharp, high definition video - but the Panasonic has a viewfinder, and the Sony does not. I bought the X900's predecessor, the TM900, from Amazon Warehouse Deals and have been completely satisfied with it. I recommend the X900 highly.

Hope this is helpful,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[glenpinn]

jb - for 1080/60p, your choices are pretty much Sony and Panasonic. With a $750 budget, I recommend either a new Sony HDR-CX580V for $648 or a used Panasonic X900MK for $751.47.

Both are great camcorders, both take high res still photos, and both record sharp, high definition video - but the Panasonic has a viewfinder, and the Sony does not. I bought the X900's predecessor, the TM900, from Amazon Warehouse Deals and have been completely satisfied with it. I recommend the X900 highly.

Hope this is helpful,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

the panasonic TM900 actually replaced the TM700 camcorder as their flagship HD model camcorder.

in august 2010 panasonic made the HDC-SDT750 cam (which i actually own) as a 3D version of the TM700, only they wiped the 32gb internal memory from the TM700 and replaced it with a single 64gb SD card slot to record onto.

in march 2012 they made the new HC-X900M cam as a 3D replacement for the previous TM900, and in doing so they went back to the 32gb onboard memory + 32gb SD card slot that was on the TM700.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Panasonic-HC-X900-Camcorder-Review.htm

panasonic have always been the leader in small consumer/prosumer hand held HD cancorders (both standard def and HD models) but they are still being idiots when it comes to their HD camcorders from the TM700 model up till the present models.

the TM700 was the HD model that basically changed the HD camcorder market, and it is still regarded as the best ever HD camcorder made, and HD camcorder technology since this model was made has not changed very much at all.

Panasonic should have stuck to making separate 3D and non 3D models so consumers had a choice, because i have never used the 3D lens on my SDT750 cam because the 3D recording on these small camcorders is basically useless, and pointless anyway, so forcing consumers to pay more for a 3D camcorder when they dont want 3D recording is pointless.

anyway, i would suggest to the thread owner to buy a second hand TM700 or TM900 if they dont need 3D recording, however there are still some new SDT750 cams out there pretty cheap (records to a single 64gb SD card) or grab a brand new HC-X900M because it is the newest offering from panasonic (albeit they went back to the 32gb onboard memory + a single 32gb SD card slot that was on the TM900)

if your after a HD camcorder with a very good AF system, great image stabilization, above average low light shooting, and reasonable still picture capabilities then i can vouch for the SDT750 that i own, it rated a 10 from CamcorderInfo website, but dont buy it for the 3D recording quality because just like all small hand held camcorders that shoot in 3D, its hopeless.

i should note that although the SDT750 is rated at 14.4mp for still photo shooting, it is not actually 14.4mp, and photos shot in full 14.4mp mode (4608x3072) look a bit washed out, however at 8mp (3600x2400) the photos are pretty dam good.

this is a 14.4mp jpeg photo from my camcorder, i now take photos at 8mp instead, they are much better quality.