best hd camcorder for snowboarding

[robbiemullaney]

I want a small HD camcorder to shoot when i go snowboarding and playing golf and holidays. i have been looking at the sony tg3e and the xacti hd1010.
the hd 1010 seems to have better format for editing but the sony hse optical image stabilising for the snowboarding.
they are both the same price but i have read various reviews saying both are good.
does anyone have any ideas what one to get.

[edDV]

The Sony tg3e uses semi-standard AVCHD and has some optical stabilization. That seems to tip the scale that way but be aware that editing AVCHD is no picnic.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/15/sony-tg3e-tg1-camcorder-review/

The HD1010 records to a non-standard version of h.264. Edit package support will be spotty. Investigate before you head that way.

[Soopafresh]

http://www.vimeo.com/2202158

Camera with the Hague MMC Steadicam makes a huge difference

I'd get a camcorder with a wide angle lens

[robbiemullaney]

thanks guys, what about the panasonic sd9 that has ois and is priced good but what is 24p will that shoot snowboarding ok?

[edDV]

thanks guys, what about the panasonic sd9 that has ois and is priced good but what is 24p will that shoot snowboarding ok?

24p would be awful for anything with action. In the UK 576i/1080i gets you 50 motion samples per second vs. 24.

[robbiemullaney]

hi guys
thanks for all the info.
what camcorder would you suggest
the xacti HD1010 does 1080i and 720p at 60 and also 1080p at 30 so that camera seems to fit the bill. it's just that people are saying it's really shaky i.e it has a weak electronic Image Stabilising. would the sony TG3 be the best but it only does 1080i not p, not sure if it does 720p at 60fps though.
any help would be appreciated as i have been studying this for a month now.

chers

robbie

[Soopafresh]

There are advantages and disadvantages to using the Xacti. It's very portable and you can put it in your jacket pocket when you're snowboarding. And it has 1080i 60 fields per second recording for fast action.

The output is h264 in an MP4 container, which makes it more difficult to edit.
Couldn't find any info about battery life. Assume 1-1.5 hrs on a single charge.

The Sony is similar. It does apparently have settings to do slow motion, which looks pretty good

http://www.vimeo.com/2071313

[robbiemullaney]

cool is it worth getting the HD1000 or the HD1010 as there are people sying there is not much difference.
the xacti is supposed to be very drag and droppable in my Imac but i don't know anyone who has one.
any xacti fans out there can you give me your experiences.

thanks for the help guys

[Soopafresh]

The 1010 has better output - less compression artifacts.

Here's a crappy example MP4 file from an Xacti. See if you can open it in iMovie

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20070926/fullhd.mp4

[robbiemullaney]

that clip was not very good it seemed a pixlated, is that the kind of output from an xacti hd 1010.
is it worth spending more money and buying a canon hf100? or panasonic sd9.

i do want a camera that I can slip in to my pocket when i am snowboarding and stuff but i do want some decent quality..
is the TG3e as bad or can it perform well enough for a basic HD camcorder that can be used for most things.

i think my Imac will handle ACVHD

sorry to drag this on but when I buy I want to buy one that is futureproof

[tmw]

sorry to drag this on but when I buy I want to buy one that is futureproof

If so, give up now.

The Aiptek is pretty much a toy, relative to everything, compared to the higher end camcorders. I wouldn't bet on it being perfect, but it is less of an investment. There's a good chance that the video will look like crap anyway, because you are on a snowboard, which tends to be a fairly unstable platform. The Aiptek in the hands of someone more competent than I can produce better video than me with the most expensive camera available.

Also, I recommend ensuring you can put a wide angle lens on it, assuming you ever settle on something that is not futureproof. When the action moves quickly, the wide angle backs things up, and makes the world a little less shaky. Amateurs like me need all the help we can get.

Just my thoughts.

[zoobie]

it depends how big your pocket is...and how deep

keep in mind you'll be falling on your camera which probably isn't recommended

[Soopafresh]

No such thing as futureproof, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, heh). I wouldn't use that clip as an accurate example of the Xacti. I only pointed to it so you could take a look to see if you could load it into your editor.

The HF10 (and especially the newer HG20) are really good cameras. If you're looking at the direction where camcorders are going, that's it. You'll need to convert the file outputs to Quicktime with a $40 program called VoltaicHD in order to edit the footage on your Mac (unless you have Final Cut). Those cameras are pretty small, not as small as the Xacti, however. The quality will be better, as the bitrate of the HG20 is significantly higher than the Xacti.

Here's the thing: the most important part of shooting with an HD camcorder is keeping the shot steady. And when you zoom in with any camera, all the shakes are amplified. Even optical image stabilization will be challenged you're snowboarding down a bumpy hill. Look at that clip of snowboarding I posted above. Whether you choose the Xacti, the Sony, or the Canon won't matter in the end if your hands are trembling when you shoot. Look at one of these devices to compensate for this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQhoh6-KHQ8&feature=related

It's all a trade-off. Portability vs Quality

[robbiemullaney]

most of the video stuff will be me stopping and whilst i am static i will be videoing my friends doing jumps and stuff, so it wont be used going down the mountain too much, but with that gadget on you tube that looks cool and may let me use it for going down the mountain.
i suppose i need one that will fit in a decent size pocket and is HD. the xacti seems good as it can have wide angle lenses fitted (need all the help i can get), but the sony TG3 does look good and has OIS.
the Panasonic sd9 has ois and is the same price as the tg3e and the xacti hd 1010, but the hf100 also looks good.

I suppose i need to get a feel and see what is the best.

any xacti owners know if it's worth getting the hd 1010 over the HD 1000

again thanks for all you help in this

[Soopafresh]

If you don't get an answer here about the Xacti models, ask on this website:

http://forums.steves-digicams.com