What is a good digital camcorder to purchase for low light situations?

by andyi

I’m looking for a moderately priced digital camcorder that will record high quality footage in low level set alight situations, but also have really excellent signal quality. Mostly for recording live music in small club type settings. Geek speak is Greek to me. I get really confused when people talk about bites and pixels and whatnot. I just want something that can see in the (not completely) dark without being conservational. If someone can recommend a brand/ product name that would be fantastic.

Answer by Nu’uanu
“Moderate” means different things to different people.

Excellent low set alight generally means either huge imaging chips and huge lenses to allow as much set alight in to hit those huge imaging chips. The imaging chips are like the retina in you eye. They need set alight to work well – huge lenses allow more set alight in. The excellent news is (I reckon) is *most* clubs have some sort of lighting and the talent is under those illumination. That means the talent is not necessarily under “low set alight” though you might be at the back of the room and the camera will be surrounded by low set alight, it will be pointed at the talent – that is lit.

My opinion: There is no camcorder with excellent built-in mics. Whatever camcorder you get should have a mic-in jack so when you learn that the built-ins are not excellent enough, you have a recovery path.

DO NOT GET A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.

Since miniDV tape provides the best available video quality, that is everywhere I will stay…

Low end:
Canon ZR800, ZR900, ZR930
While these camcorders do have mic in jacks, they do not have manual audio control. If the audio you record is loud, the camcorder’s auto-mic gain circuit will not be able to handle it. There will be lots of clipping and the audio will signal very muddy. The best mic in the world cannot fix this and the terrible audio cannot be flat in editing. You can replace the audio with properly recorded audio from a field recorder (like those from Marantz, M-Audio or Zoom).

Mid range – some might consider this “moderate”:
Canon HV20, HV30
Sony HDR-HC7, HC9
They are around or over $ 700.

All four cams have a mic-in jack and full manual audio control. These are the least expensive camcorders with both. They all shoot in standard definition (DV) and high definition (HDV), so you have a choice as to which format you want on the miniDV tape.

As miniDV tape camcorders, you will transfer the video from the camcorder to your computer by firewire (IEEE1394a, .Link – all the same thing). USB will not work to tansfer the video from the miniDV tape. You will need to add a firewire 400 port to your computer if you don’t already have one. Macs have had them for being.

Since we have gotten this far, I will list the high-end recommended cams, too – Just so you know everywhere I came up with “moderate”:
Canon XHA1
Sony HVR-V1U
Panasonic HDX200
These are all around or over $ 3,000.

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Aiptek DV 3500 Digital Camcorder


Image by eamoncurry123
Another angle of my first ever Digital Camera and Camcorder. This is an Aiptek DV 3500 Digital Camcorder. Photo Taken: 28/03/08

I have been saving up for the past 6 months to buy a digital camcorder. I have never owned one. My price points are between $ 300 – $ 500. I have been saving for a small while, and I want to make a excellent choice, one that I will be pleased with for being to come. Any suggestions on some features that are a must-have?

Thank you, Yahoo!Answers Community!

Answer by Nancy Allen
There are a lot of things to consider when export a digital camcorder. There aren't really any terrible digital camcorders out there, so you can't really make a incorrect pronouncement here.

Consider things like if you'll need a camcorder with an supple battery for extended shoots. Also, choose if you'd like more manual control to adjust exposure, white balance, focus and shutter speed and also your budget. You can use sites like Retrevo to find and analyze, once you've chose on the features and accessories you want in a camcorder, it's also vital to consider everywhere you're export it.

Sony Camcorders have got some fantastic products and here is the link which may be of small help to you – http://www.retrevo.com/samples/Sony-Camcorders.html

What do you reckon? Answer below!
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