Anyone Know If This Is A Good Camera/Camcorder? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: BryantSky
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 05, 2015, 02:09:10 am
content: So I found a Camcorder,I would like to know if it is cheap or Good, I would like to start up a vlog channel. So please let me know

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2015, 05:48:22 am
content: Most low-end cameras will produce "decent" video in ABUNDANT light. (Like outdoor sunlight or equivalent.)They don't do so good in low-light (including average indoor that isn't explicitly lit for video).I would NEVER buy any camera that didn't have an external mic input and a way to monitor the audio (headphone jack).But then I came to video from the audio world and I have never lost my priority for good audio.I think the whole 1080 thing is just silly. I have NEVER seen anything on YouTube that needed that kind of resolution.IMHO, it is a useless fetish. Content over form is my motto.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 05, 2015, 07:20:50 am
content: Quote from: Richard Crowley on December 05, 2015, 05:48:22 amThis is a key point most people miss."Low Light" isnotin the dark, it's indoors in normal light.They use their latest iPhone or GoPro outdoors and then rave about the quality of the sensor and the fantastic image. Bring that same device indoors and it's a load of garbage.Most camcorder specs are rated at 1000lux minimum (double or triple usual indoor lighting), anything under that and performance suffers greatly.I have a $2.5k APS-C sensor camcorder with proper lenses and it can still perform poorly in indoors light.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 05, 2015, 07:22:55 am
content: Quote from: Richard Crowley on December 05, 2015, 05:48:22 amAudio is massively important, more important than video in fact.People will watch crap quality video with good audio, but they will not watch top quality video with really crap audio.If you are doing behind the camera audio work were you are within say 50cm of the built in mic, then the inbuilt mic might be ok. Anything else require external audio.

author: Radio Tech
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2015, 12:33:55 pm
content: As a new video blogger myself I agree, audio is very important.I went and bought a Sony HDR-CX240 only because it was listed on Sony's website that it had audio and head phone jacks. After 3 weeks of having the cam I went online to find what mic was compatible for it. I quickly learned that the CX240 does not have audio jacks. So shop around and verify the manufactures claim before you buy.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2015, 04:15:11 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on December 05, 2015, 01:06:31 pmActually, there are some rather cheap video cameras with audio input if you shop carefully.QuoteIt is increasingly popular for people to automate this process with software ("Plural Eyes")http://www.redgiant.com/products/pluraleyes/But, perhaps because I came from the Old School, I simply use the audio track as the "Master Guide" and slip the video track(s) to match the audio. I have even done multi-camera musical productions by this method and it never seemed as difficult as people claim.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2015, 09:04:30 pm
content: Yes, "cheap" is a relative term.It also depends on exactly WHAT you want to use the camera for.It also depends on WHERE you are and what is available there.

author: rollatorwieltje
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 05, 2015, 09:28:35 pm
content: Some of the old Toshiba Camileo (X200 at least), Kodak (Zi8, Zi10) and Flip cameras has external audio input. I guess the market for these cameras died when the cameras on smartphones became acceptable.