Best camcorder for internet video

[soledsoled]

Hello,

I know we've seen these type of posts before, but they're often specific and involve specific brands of cameras, accessories, equipment, ects. Really, I'm just looking for a really simple answer to the question: What is the best camcorder for internet video?

Now, I know "best" is entirely subjective, but for me, it comes down to a couple of things: ease of use, cost, and quality, in that order.

About a year ago I purchased a Canon Vixia HF10 AVCHD because I was enamored with the idea of shooting HD. Little did I know that the m2ts format (if that's even the right one) is a pain to work with unless you have a top of the line computer and even harder to convert to anything workable. It's been just awful in general, but that's partly my problem for jumping in on it.

All I wanted to do was shoot some video that could be easily edited and put on the web, on sites like youtube. What I need, I suppose, is something that records to a reasonable file type and is easy to work with. Any suggestions?

[edDV]

Hello,

I know we've seen these type of posts before, but they're often specific and involve specific brands of cameras, accessories, equipment, ects. Really, I'm just looking for a really simple answer to the question: What is the best camcorder for internet video?

Now, I know "best" is entirely subjective, but for me, it comes down to a couple of things: ease of use, cost, and quality, in that order.

About a year ago I purchased a Canon Vixia HF10 AVCHD because I was enamored with the idea of shooting HD. Little did I know that the m2ts format (if that's even the right one) is a pain to work with unless you have a top of the line computer and even harder to convert to anything workable. It's been just awful in general, but that's partly my problem for jumping in on it.

All I wanted to do was shoot some video that could be easily edited and put on the web, on sites like youtube. What I need, I suppose, is something that records to a reasonable file type and is easy to work with. Any suggestions?

What are you going to shoot? Under what conditions (e.g. lighting, motion)? That is half the problem.

Does it need to be HD? Does the HF10 have SD modes?

There is a lot you could do to edit what you have for less than buying a new camcorder. You could work from 1440x540p or 960x540p on slower computers. You could convert the video to a digital intermediate (e.g. Cineform or AIC).

[soledsoled]

Hey Ed,

I don't see myself shooting anything crazy (this is kind of for work, sort of thing) but would like to be able to shoot indoors and out. I forsee most of the videos being talking heads, still shots, that kind of thing. Think of what you get with your nightly newscast's location shots.

[edDV]

Still using that AMD 1.8GHz?

You could probably reduce to single field 960x540p (quarter size, 29.97fps) then resize to 720x480p MPeg2 for upload.

Not many good SD progressive choices. The Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 might work for you at 1280x720p/29.97.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sanyo-Xacti-VPC-HD2000-Camcorder-Review-36280.htm

Or a Canon HV30.