What to buy? Video Camera.

Hello. We are looking to buy a video camera, but are on a very low budget. Does anybody have a recommendation?
Our budget is between $150-$200. We know that is very low, but would like to know what things to look for in a camera. We understand that editing and things in post production are important, but it seems that there should be a few things that are essentials when looking at a camera to buy.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks.
 
Hello.

If you search this site for they keyword camera or something along those lines, you should find a shit-ton of posts asking the same question you just did.

At that level, you're not going to find any camera that's going to knock your socks off, I'm sure you realize that. But I realize you have to start somewhere, to see if filmmaking is something you want to do, and $300 is a decent place to start I suppose. It's good for practice. I wouldn't expect any kind of quality image, sound, or features from a camera at that range...just be aware. And understand that you'll have to work extra hard with composition, lighting, sound, and post to produce a final product people will won't instantly judge.

I'm not at all being a downer here. Just telling it like it is. If this is something you love, I suggest you put together around 10K and put yourself together a great package. You can score some nice cameras for 5K, and the rest of the money can go to other gear such as boom, lights, extras, etc...

Good luck.
 
In the $1,000 and under range all cameras are pretty
much the same. A Sony is like a Sharp is like a Canon
is like a Panasonic is like Samsung. You can go to any
Best Buy and pick up a camera in that price range and
you won’t be able to tell the difference. The current
price range for a good starter camera with the necessary
features is closer to $1,500 with several a few hundred
under that.

There are three things that are VERY important when
getting a camera:

Three CCD’s or CMOS
Manual controls for the iris, shutter, focus and white balance.
A microphone input.

I don't know of any camera in your range that has the essentials.
 
Back
Top