First camera

Hi Guys, I already have some budget for camera now... but it's very little. I want to know what kind of camera that suits me the best...


1. First I live in Malaysia. My budget is around RM1500, which is approximately $500 USD
2. I wish to have one camera for shooting only... short film, music videos, school project, some events or just for fun.


Few camcorder in my list, which is Panasonic HDC-TM80, Canon LEGRIA FS406, or DSLR Canon 1100D. But what kind of specification I should consider before I really buy?


Thanks.
 
have a look at

canon s95 > it costs around 550$, it has manual ring to get some pro effects in the vid. it shoots full hi-def vids..

another good option is sony hx9v which costs around $399 and has full HD but focus is not that great.. but it does offer auto focus which works cool esp in closer shots..


I am a big fan of Point and shoot cameras that are getting better day by day for video. They are very convenient..

Also consider getting Samsung Galaxy S2, yes, some famous directors have even made short films using it...

it is more about the photographer and less about the camera.. so get a decent camera, your budget is good.. and make the max out of it!
 
Don't go for the Galaxy S2! It's awesome and all that and I do all my videos with it but the auto focus is terrible it pulls focus for no reason at all sometimes which can destroy a whole shot. If you have the option sometime get it as a phone and you have a secondary camera!
 
Gotta do your homework, for sure.

The canon s95 goes only up to 720p


The Sony hx9v resolution does goto 1080, @ both 50p & i & 24M (?) and 25fps, but I think for the money there are still better options.

The Panasonic HDC-TM80 goes to 1080i, but I'd flag that tiny 1/5.8" MOS sensor.

I'm less than impressed with useful information provided for the Canon LEGRIA FS406.

And the Canon 1100D/t3 doesn't really cover much about video resolution.



I'm just guessing, but I think for editing for big screen projection you'll want something that records frame by frame meaning 1080p, which means you really need a video editing computer with the processing power to handle all that info.
Something with a Intel i7 chip in it, and those are a lot more than the camera.

Keep asking more questions!
GL
 
If you decide to choose a Canon DSLR, you should go with either the T2i(550D) or or T3i(600D), not the T3(1100D). The T3's video features are extremely lacking compared to the T2i or T3i. The T2i should be right around your price range if you can find one; it's largely been replaced by the T3i.

Another option is the Panasonic GH1, if you can find one in stock. It's been discontinued, but it's been priced at around $450 US. It's a steal at that price, and a very capable camera if you apply a firmware hack.
 
Thanks for the info!

to priyankeshu, Lcaz:
thanks for the suggestion, but isn't it better to get a video camera for video shooting than getting a digital camera for shooting? If getting something other than video camera, what about Nokia N8?

to rayw:
my computer now is Core i5 with 1TB hard disk and 4GB Ram, and using Windows 7 OS, which I think is good enough for video editing. And the problem is I don't have any camera. Most probably I will go for Panasonic HDC-TM80, because it seems the best in my budget. What do you think?

to SinEater:
GH1 seems nice... but since it's discontinued, what I afraid is I'll face problem when the camera got a bit problem since I am not sure in Malaysia able to get repair or not... will go to the shop and ask for more detail...



by the way, what kind of specification should I consider? like the size of sensor... how big only it can be considered as decent? Or the optical zoom, how I can Identify it as good?

Again, thanks guys for the info, much appreciated. And sorry for asking a lot... I am very new to this...
 
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