DV Camcorder - Budget £100: Advice?

[RicGrayMovies]

Hey guys - following the death of my old Samsung DV camera a few years ago (buy reliable tripods.), I'm interested in getting another.

If possible, it would be no more than £100...I have a little leeway, but not more than about £20.

I'm particularly interested in getting one of the small camcorders which record straight onto an SD card or hard drive...they seem much simpler to use than the DV tapes and firewire connection I was using.

I'm not fussed if it's new or pre-owned, just any advice about which model is worth the asking price would be very helpful.

Thanks very much guys,
Ric

[directorik]

Other than the "Flip" I don't know of any camera in the
£100 range.

Look at the Panasonic SD40 and the Sony HDRCX115EB.
Both more expensive than you want. The Panasonic HX-DC1
is a little closer.

[RicGrayMovies]

Thanks a lot directorik, i'm taking a look at the Panasonic and it does seem to be very nice for what I want - does anyone else have suggestions of similar models at a lesser price? Thanks :-)

[Murdock]

Bets advice I could give would be to start hitting up ebay. You might find something there

[keir64]

Originally Posted by directorik

Other than the "Flip" I don't know of any camera in the
£100 range.

Look at the Panasonic SD40 and the Sony HDRCX115EB.
Both more expensive than you want. The Panasonic HX-DC1
is a little closer.

Hey I've had a look at the 2 models and they seem exceptional. Good price too.

I know very little about cameras, so far my film career consists of having a bunch of ideas and just wanting to go out and get started, to put it simply anyway.

So I'm compelled to ask, are these cameras suitable for just going ahead and shooting a short film with? Just in terms of use and quality, etc.

Thanks, Keir.

I should probably add I am of course taking into account all of the other requirements, mics/sound, lighting etc.

[directorik]

Originally Posted by keir64

So I'm compelled to ask, are these cameras suitable for just going ahead and shooting a short film with? Just in terms of use and quality, etc.

At this price range you don't have any other options. So you either
wait and save money for a better camera or you make short films
with what you can afford. Some people would rather wait, not shoot
anything for a few months or years and get a better camera. Some
people work with others; for example a director finds a photographer
with a camera and they team up. Some people work with what they
have.

I was always a "work with what I have" filmmaker. My first films were
shot on 8mm with a camera that had a fixed focus lens and one
aperture setting. But that didn't stop me because I wanted to make films.
And quickly I became the "let's team up" type. I found a guy at my school
who wanted to be a cinematographer and had a nice camera so we
teamed up and made movies together.

What kind of filmmaker are you?

[keir64]

I suppose I fit into the first kind - Work with what I have.

I'm plenty resourceful and have a story, locations, people ready to help out, I just want to get a camera and do this thing! (:

Sorry for stealing your Thread RicGray! But it does appear we are on similar quests!

[rayw]

Seeing how you're hailing from the UK, I just did a B&H filter search for PAL camcorders.
Maybe this is or isn't relevant, but there's not as big a selection available, especially in the £100 price range.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search...092+4293918168

On the left-side column, the last group is "Sensor Size", and that is kinda like one of the most fundamental critical parts to a "decent" video camera.
1/5.58 - 1/6 is a chip of a chip.
No need to worry about jello-effects when pannng.


Now, if you're a sensible fellow and good enough is indeed "good enough" then great!

http://camcorder.jvc.com/product.jsp...Id=171&page=14

GL!

[dlevanchuk]

thats a great camera to start. its cheap, wont hog the processor for editing, and will take care of basics!

[keir64]

Originally Posted by dlevanchuk

thats a great camera to start. its cheap, wont hog the processor for editing, and will take care of basics!

what camera are you referring to exactly?

[Feutus Lapdance]

Canon 7D and 5D....and its successors....

[Cracker Funk]

Originally Posted by Murdock

Bets advice I could give would be to start hitting up ebay. You might find something there

Yep. In this price-range, I would definitely opt to go used mini-DV. Try your best to get something that has:

-manual exposure
-manual focus
-external audio input

[rayw]

I'm pretty sure £100/$130US won't buy anything much more fancy than some push button presets for some digital zooms and coloring effects.
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert/?Amoun...rom=EUR&To=USD

[Cracker Funk]

Originally Posted by rayw

I'm pretty sure £100/$130US won't buy anything much more fancy than some push button presets for some digital zooms and coloring effects.
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert/?Amoun...rom=EUR&To=USD

No way, dude. In this bottom-budget price-range, used miniDV is totally the way to go.

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Sony-Handyca...=p3286.c0.m14#

[rayw]

All of those were NTSC.
Think that'll matter over in PAL-land?