OT: digital camcorder that has frame stabilization

Wed Apr 28 22:36:12 MST 2010

Probably overkill for posting to YouTube but I bought a Sony HDR-CX150
and I'm pretty happy with it. $550 out the door over at Best Buy, it
has 16GB internal Flash plus an SD card slot for additional recording
time. It will do  2+ hours in HD on internal memory and battery life
is around that time period, has image stabilization and optical zoom
and all that stuff. It does have the tripod attachment like you asked
for but it is missing two things that a lot of people look for, 1. No
light attachment for additional spot lighting, and 2 no mic in for
using an external microphone.  That said, it does a good job in just
about any lighting conditions I've tried it in and the internal mic is
good enough for anything I'd be shooting. YMMV. Without a better idea
of what you're shooting, it's hard to make better recommendations.
The Cannon Vixia line are also really good for the money, I'd
recommend you try them both if this is in your price range.  There are
'flip' style cameras out there advertising HD quality video for less
than $100, but really when it comes to cameras, you get what you pay
for and while they may have the "resolution" to claim HD quality,
you'll see it all over the place in terms of color balance, really bad
motion blur and little to no stabilization.

Speaking of stabilization, no matter what kind of camera you get, if
you're going to be recording while moving do yourself a huge favor and
build yourself a cheap steadicam using the tutorial referenced below
or one of the many others available on the internet. Seriously, it
makes a huge difference.

http://steadycam.org/

Good luck

M

On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 10:14 PM, Mike Schwartz <schwartz at acm.org> wrote:
> My (cheap) Kodak camera, might not be the kind you want, but it does use an
> SD card (very easy "plug in" type) for memory, and I literally have used it
> with a tripod before, and it has both optical zoom and, a decent number of
> pixels (for still pictures at least) so that you can do some digital
> "darkroom magic" during "post production" after the actors have left town.
> ...when your "deleted scenes" (maybe to be included as "bonus features" on
> the DVD) are ending up on the cutting room floor.
> I use this camera mostly for still pictures (like this one, taken Feb 11 at
> the blood bank
> : http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3662669&id=664267723&fbid=305704457723 )
> ; HOWEVER, it has what looks like an ad for "YouTube" on the front of the
> camera (complete with a logo and color scheme, that seems to suggest that
> Kodak and YouTube are trying to promote each other, or something like that).
>
> It literally cost me under $100 last Thanksgiving at Wal-Mart (it might be
> even cheaper now...) not counting the SD memory (flash) card, which I
> already had, in my OLD Kodak camera (which died, or ailed.) -- and those (SD
> memory cards) are cheaper now than when I bought mine.  Now I think they are
> under $10, although maybe more for bigger sizes.  (but since I do
> mostly still pictures, I don't need very many GB).
> The camera is a Kodak "EasyShare" model C160.  You can borrow it if you want
> to check it out.
> It has built in "options" for [e.g.] modes for :
> * Portrait
> * Sport (fast action)
> * Close up (subjects closer than 28 inches)
> * Landscape
> * Flower
> * Sunset
> * Backlight
> * Candle light
> * Children (action photos in bright light)
> * Manner/Museum
> * Text
> * Beach
> * Snow
> * Fireworks
> * Self Portrait (close-up of self)
> * Night Portrait
> * Night Landscape
> * High ISO (very low light conditions)
> and
> * blur reduction (reduce blur due to subject motion)
> but I do not know whether those are applicable to videos or not (I
> personally use this camera mostly for still pictures.)
> "Video" is another one of the modes -- (Hmm, hence it seems to be mutex with
> each of the "modes" listed above...) -- (?)
> I am not familiar with [the meaning of the term] "frame stabilization".  But
> the manual for the Kodak "EasyShare" model C160 is probably available
> on-line, so maybe you could look it up, and see if it does what you meant...
> Just FYI.
> HTH.
> --
> Mike Schwartz
> Glendale  AZ
> schwartz at acm.org
>
> On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 9:36 PM, Joseph Sinclair <plug-discussion at stcaz.net>
> wrote:
>>
>> Not too specific, since it's hard to do that without more information, but
>> the Canon Vixia line of HD camcorders are excellent and most models record
>> both to internal SSD and removable flash cards (the internal is faster, and
>> for short clips at higher quality you can record to internal then copy off
>> to a flash card).
>> IMHO the Vixia line are a good balance between quality and price, but
>> they're generally in the $550+ range (the HF R10 is a good model at the low
>> end), the HF10 and HF20 are a couple of the best models for higher-end
>> consumer use.
>> The Canon FS300 is a nice camera that records direct to SD cards in
>> standard definition available for around $300.  The FS31 in the same line
>> adds a 16G internal SSD for only $50 more.
>>
>> All of the Canon camcorders have real optical zoom lenses (in addition to
>> digital "zoom") and lots of accessory options.
>>
>> Very few camcorders have real optical image stabilization until you get
>> into the $600+ range, the rest use digital image stabilization, which works
>> OK for video most of the time, but gets iffy with lots of motion.
>>
>> keith smith wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > I'm looking for a digital camcorder that has frame stabilization and a
>> > battery life of at least 2, and a tripod adapter.� Non-digital zoom would be
>> > good also.
>> >
>> > I will be using this for YouTube mostly however I need it to have good
>> > frame stabilization because I will more than likely be using it while moving
>> > and will need to be able to pan left to right or maybe 180 degrees.
>> >
>> > I will try to use a tripod, more than likely I will be recording while
>> > moving and recording people and cars in motion.
>> >
>> > It has been years since I have bought a camcorder, so any and all
>> > suggestions, to include gotchas,� are appreciated.�� Thank you in advance!
>> > ------------------------
>> >
>> > Keith Smith
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
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