Buying a camera

[saunders]

I know this is the 10000th thread about cams already, but I wanted to ask this anyway.

So here's the story: I'm going to Indonesia next month, and I want to film some stuff there and create a sampler (which will happen to be my first sampler after like 4 years of tricking, lol).
Problem is that I have no camera, and I have no idea where to start looking.
I used to have a little cheap 100 dollar camera but it broke and I never really bothered to fix it - the quality wasn't that great either.

I'm looking for a good camera to film my sampler + random stuff from my trip. I want to spend about a maximum of 500 dollars. Is it possible to get a good camera for that price? I've searched around the forums quite a bit and it seems that most good cameras cost at least 800 dollars.

My parents keep suggesting to get another one of those cheap 100-200 dollar cameras, because they think 500 dollars will be a waste of my money. Now frankly I don't know whether I should get an expensive brand-camera or a cheap one.

So I'm looking for tips, share your experiences, what brand should I get, what to look for in a camera, etc. Any help will be greatly appreciated! :smile:

[anerky]

I'm in the same boat as you. My old camera is broken and I'm looking for a nice, solid camera for about $500.

Definitely don't compromise. Don't do any of that, " this camera is kinda ok...I guess, maybe." just because it's cheap as shit. Get one that you really feel good about using.

[Jopez]

I bought Canon FS100, but it was much cheaper ;P it cost me 350€, so it's probably something around 200-300$ I guess. I've been statisfied with this, there's some material recorded with it in my youtube profile: http://www.youtube.com/user/Jopez0r
Of course HD cameras are lovely and not too expensive anymore, but they also need a huge PC for editing.

[Tatsumaru]

Don't really have any suggestions: just happy to see you're finally deciding to get a damn camera haha! :smile:

Probeer dit eens: http://www.kieskeurig.nl/videocamera

[n3m3s1s]

you dont need a huge pc for editing HD footy, it just takes up a lot of space ;)

[Stinger55555]

I find that the Fuji Finepix F series is really good. I got one a few years ago and it had excellent quality. I would definately suggest one of those.

[Chr1zZ-]

FS100 is probably one of the best choices for SD
I'll be getting Canon HF100 next week :)

[saunders]

Thanks for the reactions guys, I'll look into it some more. But I think I'm getting the Canon FS100. :smile:

[sasver]

i have sony handycam and it cost 5499.-krooni it's like hmm.. 400 dollars maybe and i like it but need to learn better tricking have trickd since september 2008:P

and in october i brouked my hand so haven't got good pratice sorry abut skkiping thred osmy

[saunders]

Hmm the problem with the Canon FS100 is that it uses SD cards to save the footage on. My old cam used SD cards as well and the problem was that it got full real quickly. So since I'm going on a holiday for 2 months what would better: SD, MiniDV or HDD? I'm leaning more towards the MiniDV cams. Though I'm not sure whether the tapes content can be erased after I uploaded it to my computer, does anyone know if this is possible?
What do you guys recommend?

[Birch]

Ive got a sweet JVC Everio, its a 30GB hard drive cam. The digital cameras dont quite rival the analogues if you want to get really anal, but it does its job and i can film a good 45 hours before i have to wipe anything and by that time i can get it back on my computer.
I got it like 2 years ago around the 1000 mark, but i know it has gone down considerably since then, pretty sure its now under 800.
Its very small, very reliable and records straight to .mpg thumbnails, so editting is hella easy and quick.

[BrandonLenz]

Ive got a sweet JVC Everio, its a 30GB hard drive cam. The digital cameras dont quite rival the analogues if you want to get really anal, but it does its job and i can film a good 45 hours before i have to wipe anything and by that time i can get it back on my computer.
I got it like 2 years ago around the 1000 mark, but i know it has gone down considerably since then, pretty sure its now under 800.
Its very small, very reliable and records straight to .mpg thumbnails, so editting is hella easy and quick.

I want

[Birch]

Can have?

[Adam Ross]

I have 2tera's of storage, so i will by a hv30 in a few months, once i've set up my recording studio and media center in my room.
lolololol.

[Theme]

you can't directly erase stuff from MiniDVs but you can film over it again without loosing much quality (if any at all) problem is that it's a bitch to upload to PC and cut and edit etc... 1 minute tape takes 1 minute to upload to PC.. 2 hours tape takes 2 hours.

[sasver]

you can't directly erase stuff from MiniDVs but you can film over it again without loosing much quality (if any at all) problem is that it's a bitch to upload to PC and cut and edit etc... 1 minute tape takes 1 minute to upload to PC.. 2 hours tape takes 2 hours.

whan i bought my camera they said same stuff and they recomended a camer that records on littel cd/dvd-s and it works great:tongue:

[BrandonLenz]

i been doing some research, i found this camera for 600, its a total beast:
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/samsung-sc-hmx20c-hd/4505-6500_7-32815577.html?tag=mncol;lst

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/541186-REG/Samsung_SCHMX20_SC_HMX20C_8GB_Hybrid_HDD.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qc23rFtNuk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrhqNpiosAQ&feature=related

i think i'm in love