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New York, 9:43 AM
Sun Dec 20
16 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Sticks Calhoun Sticks Calhoun
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Exemode Keychain Camera Has a Loveable Crappiness About It
    A bit cheaper and they'd be a blast to do things like tie to your dog's collar for a while, or stick on a kite or balloon.
     Reply
    Sticks Calhoun was starred Sticks Calhoun was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Exemode Keychain Camera Has a Loveable Crappiness About It
    I could buy a shitty *real* camera for that much, or someone's used nice one.
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of Navin R Johnson Navin R Johnson
    12/11/09

    In reply to The Exemode Keychain Camera Has a Loveable Crappiness About It
    /are you sure you didn't mess up the decimal place? $6.50? Yes. $65...No.
     Reply
    Navin R Johnson was starred Navin R Johnson was unstarred
    Image of newgalactic newgalactic
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    When I worked at Circuit City in college (1999), we were given a statistic that the average camcorder user uses their camcorder for 12 hours a year. Remember that when you consider dropping $800 on a camcorder.
     Reply
    newgalactic was starred newgalactic was unstarred
    Image of Eugenia Eugenia
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    I highly disagree with what's concluded in this article.

    The Flip (and Kodak Z-series) cameras are the worst digirecorders one could buy. Want good portable P&S video? Get the Canon SX200 IS digicam that records at 720/30p. Not only you will get exposure compensation AND locking for $300, but you get enough color and other settings to even emulate the movie look! And all that at high h.264 bitrate: 24 mbps! Beats the completely automatic, highly compressed Flip/Kodaks any day.

    As for the high-end camcorder, I don't agree with going with the Panasonic one. The best camcorder in that range is the Canon HF-S10/S100. It has more detail than the TM-300, and more manual controls and ports -- at the same price.
     Reply
    Eugenia was starred Eugenia was unstarred
    Image of lpranal lpranal
    12/08/09

    @Eugenia: the sx200 is nice, but it costs twice as much. Yes, the money may buy you oodles of features / better optics, and is probably a much better value... but "budget" is not the word I would use at that price point, speaking as a broke-ass graphic designer.
     Reply
    lpranal was starred lpranal was unstarred
    Image of mullingitover mullingitover
    12/08/09

    @Eugenia: Seconded. I have the Powershot 780IS and it's a wicked good HD video recorder. It's only $199.

    The focusing lens is what makes it totally outclass the flipcam-style recorders. It's also *tiny!*Bonus: Canon makes a really solid underwater case that'll let you shoot down to something like 150 feet with full controls available.
     Reply
    Eugenia promoted this comment mullingitover was starred mullingitover was unstarred
    Image of frigg frigg
    12/08/09

    @Eugenia: I was strongly considering the HF-S100 but Camcorderinfo compares it with the TM-300 on a number of fronts and makes a compelling case for the Panasonic, concluding:

    "TM300 has the edge in performance, clearly beating out the HF S100 in low light, noise, stabilization, and still performance; the Canon has only a slight edge in bright light color, video sharpness, and motion"

    I'm not sure what port the Canon has that the Panasonic doesn't - is it an important one?
     Reply
    frigg was starred frigg was unstarred
    Image of Margatron Margatron
    12/08/09

    @Eugenia: I agree with the heart of your argument, that a more comprehensive review of certain cameras at certain price levels should have been done.

    It's a very easy argument that currently Cannon makes some of the leading sensors on the market and another easy argument that everyone looking to do semi-pro filming (ie 1300$ and up) should stay far away from Panasonic. I say redo this article as a weeklong special with that level of research.
     Reply
    Margatron was starred Margatron was unstarred
    Image of Ninety-9 Ninety-9
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    My vote is still on the Kodak Zi8. Currently priced at $150 for a 1080p pocket camcorder, and it's got all the cool little things that makes us gadget people all giddy.
     Reply
    Ninety-9 was starred Ninety-9 was unstarred
    Image of Demonbird Demonbird
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    Why buy the Mino HD when you can get a JVC Everio MS120, a traditional camcorder, for $20 more?
     Reply
    Demonbird was starred Demonbird was unstarred
    Image of ninjamurf ninjamurf
    12/08/09

    @Demonbird: Because you don't WANT a big honkin' camcorder? And you would prefer something you can drop in your shirt pocket?
     Reply
    Demonbird promoted this comment ninjamurf was starred ninjamurf was unstarred
    Image of Demonbird Demonbird
    12/08/09

    @ninjamurf: It's not much bigger than that, has a lot more features, and I'm pretty sure that would be an awkward thing to put in your shirt pocket.
     Reply
    Demonbird was starred Demonbird was unstarred
    Image of thePrototype thePrototype
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    I would really recommend taking a look at previous gen cameras on eBay or CL, a lot of people buy them with good intentions and never use them.

    My husband picked up a Sony HDR-HC3 for $400 when the HDR-HC5 was retailing around $1200.
     Reply
    Mark Wilson promoted this comment thePrototype was starred thePrototype was unstarred
    Image of Nick Nick
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    i like this idea of co-opting articles from niche sites. is this just a christmas season sorta deal?
     Reply
    Nick was starred Nick was unstarred
    Image of Ridley Ridley
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    I would have liked to see how the Flip HD compares to something like the Lumix DMC-ZS3 - a point and shoot also built for video.

    Or to see how the camcorders compare to the DSLR's video like the Canon T1i
     Reply
    CommentingpointlesslyisMeh promoted this comment Ridley was starred Ridley was unstarred
    Image of CommentingpointlesslyisMeh CommentingpointlesslyisMeh
    12/09/09

    @Ridley: I own the ZS3...it is amazing. The Video is outstanding (720p). Pictures are excellent. It's not a perfect low light performer but with a small CCD and only 300 bucks it can't be beat. I am considering going to the Pana GF-1 though. A micro 4/3's rockstar. Read some reviews.
     Reply
    Edited by CommentingpointlesslyisMeh at 12/09/09 1:42 AM CommentingpointlesslyisMeh was starred CommentingpointlesslyisMeh was unstarred
    Image of CommentingpointlesslyisMeh CommentingpointlesslyisMeh
    12/09/09

    @CommentingpointlesslyisMeh:
     Reply
    CommentingpointlesslyisMeh was starred CommentingpointlesslyisMeh was unstarred
    Image of CommentingpointlesslyisMeh CommentingpointlesslyisMeh
    12/09/09

    @CommentingpointlesslyisMeh:
     Reply
    CommentingpointlesslyisMeh was starred CommentingpointlesslyisMeh was unstarred
    Image of beekerstudios: you are inane and stupid beekerstudios: you are inane and stupid
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    The only contender for me was the Panny, for the focus ring, but for $500 more I will be getting a 7D, and killing two birds with one stone. Not the same, I realize, but I have a $3,000 Sony FX1000 (needed tape) for work, that I have full access to whenever I want.
     Reply
    Mark Wilson promoted this comment beekerstudios: you are inane and stupid was starred beekerstudios: you are inane and stupid was unstarred
    Image of Col. Mustard Col. Mustard
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    the HV40 from canon is excellent. $700, MiniDV, excellent in most light
     Reply
    Mark Wilson promoted this comment Col. Mustard was starred Col. Mustard was unstarred
    Image of Rob C Rob C
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    So where's the $300-400 model?
    What if we don't want a cheap mini like the Flip, but want something a little better without breaking the bank at $600?
     Reply
    Mark Wilson promoted this comment Rob C was starred Rob C was unstarred
    Image of Mark Wilson Mark Wilson
    12/08/09

    @Rob C: In short, they no longer really exist - not in a form you should buy. Flip-style cams cannibalized the market.
     Reply
    Mark Wilson was starred Mark Wilson was unstarred
    Image of Joe Stoner Joe Stoner
    12/08/09

    In reply to The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
    If you're looking at spending $1300 on a consumer video camera, I really have to recommend taking a look at the previous generation of pro (or cheap documentary) cameras, specifically the Panasonic Ag-DVX100B. Yes, it's only SD, but it's really good SD (using 3CCD instead of CMOS for the sensor). And sound quality is terrific - with a pair of XLR inputs, you can't compete on sound with any of these consumer models, and if you've ever shot video only to find the audio was terrible, you know how important sound is to good video. Also worth mentioning is the real 24P mode. Instant dramatic effect.

    It's since been replaced by the $5K AGX200, which shoots in HD, but a quick search on ebay shows that they are out there (don't be fooled by the "buy it now" listings - they're priced too high and there's a reason they're still listed).
     Reply
    Joe Stoner was starred Joe Stoner was unstarred
    Image of TheCrudMan TheCrudMan
    12/08/09

    @Joe Stoner:
    It's been replaced by the HVX-200, the HPX-170, and the HMC-150 actually....actually in many ways the HMC-150 is the actual successor. There is no AGX200 to my knowledge. The HMC-150 at $3500 is a freaking amazing camera...same body, etc, as the much more expensive HPX-170 but it lacks P2 recording which for most people isn't a big deal, p2 actually being a detriment for independent filmmakers on a budget. HMC-150 also has the best implementation of AVCHD in any camera ever.

    That said, I also highly recommend the Panasonic Lumix GH1.
     Reply
    Joe Stoner promoted this comment TheCrudMan was starred TheCrudMan was unstarred
    Image of Joe Stoner Joe Stoner
    12/08/09

    @TheCrudMan: Yeah, HVX-200 is what I meant. And we opted to get a 160GB firewire drive instead of using P2 cards since they're just too damn expensive.
     Reply
    Joe Stoner was starred Joe Stoner was unstarred
    Image of MDIFILM MDIFILM
    12/08/09

    @Joe Stoner: well, p2 cards prices droped, and from my distributor, they said the firestore doesn't work well and they aren't doing well since p2 cards prices dropped (We have 4 hvx200 cameras)
     Reply
    Joe Stoner promoted this comment MDIFILM was starred MDIFILM was unstarred
    Image of Joe Stoner Joe Stoner
    12/08/09

    @MDIFILM: We never had any issues with the firestore... but it's great that the prices have dropped on P2 cards.
     Reply
    Joe Stoner was starred Joe Stoner was unstarred
    Image of jellotime91 jellotime91
    12/08/09

    In reply to JVC Steals Smallest and Lightest Crown With its GZ-HD620 Camcorder
    why do you guys NEVER mention price in the article? God damn it.
     Reply
    BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2 promoted this comment jellotime91 was starred jellotime91 was unstarred
    Image of BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2 BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2
    12/08/09

    @jellotime91: Actually most of the time they do include price but did you think that perhaps there isn't a US price yet?
     Reply
    BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2 was starred BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2 was unstarred
    Image of jellotime91 jellotime91
    12/08/09

    @BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2: There's something called xe.com where you can convert prices in about 2 seconds.
     Reply
    jellotime91 was starred jellotime91 was unstarred
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