Advice on HD CAM

[briancmo]

I'm doing a big US roadtrip and want to purchase a little HD camcorder. Im so out of te loop with models available and te futureshop ad bestbuy employees were completely useless.

Here's the qualifications.
1- prefer 1080p or 720p
2- 24p preferred
3- i think mini dv or HDD is ideal (tapes are cheap), HDD might be faulty?
4- need a mic input (i was shocked that most of the HD cam models I was looking at in store have no mic inputs!)
5- 3ccd would be nice
6- hot shoe is a bonus

There was a canon in store that had everything I listed above for$600 but no mic input..grrrr!!!

Suggestions without spending $4000.

[Drozz119]

IMO..the Canon HF S10 and HF S100 are the best mini DV cams out right now..

Shoe, manual controls with DOF
8.5 MP CMOS sensor @ 24Mb/s (highest quality with AVCHD)
24p, 30p,

[briancmo]

Just checked out those modesl and they're pretyt much exactly what I need...minus the CDN price. How do you think the 1/2.6 (ish) CMOS compares to a 3CCD in image quality?

[Drozz119]

Just checked out those modesl and they're pretyt much exactly what I need...minus the CDN price. How do you think the 1/2.6 (ish) CMOS compares to a 3CCD in image quality?

The video quality is comparable, and in some cases better than my Canon XL2 ($3000).. The sensors have come a long way in the last couple years, and you can get comparable dynamic range from a CMOS. Especially a 1/2.6 (larger sensor). The downside is.. you lose some detail in lowlight, but this Camera performs Very Good in low light(Considering its price)

[Trey T]

everybody is going w/ CMOS these days.

[charliec]

I have the HF S10 and DM-100 mic, and just used it on a 2 week road trip...it was awesome. Great sound, incredible image, and with the extended battery and a few 16GB cards, you can record for hours before needing to charge or swap out. (2 16GB cards plus the built in flash memory was enough to hold 8+ hours of 1920x1080 HD video)

Playing the video back on a LCD via HDMI is pretty incredible. People pay almost as much attention to the quality of the video as they do the content.

Definitely recommend.

[briancmo]

Hi Charliec,

Do you have any sample clips on youtube or online? I don't think I'll be able to afford the S10, and have been looking at the HF200 which is pretty affordable, but am wondering how much difference there is in quality between the 2.

[Bruce Foreman]

Hi Charliec,

Do you have any sample clips on youtube or online? I don't think I'll be able to afford the S10, and have been looking at the HF200 which is pretty affordable, but am wondering how much difference there is in quality between the 2.

You can find plenty of sample clips on vimeo.com

Search on that site for HF S10, and then HF200. There is a quality difference between the two if you really look for it but on a practical level not much. I would prefer the HF S100 (no internal memory, strictly SDHC card but a tad lower in price) myself for the large roller available for manual focus.

I currently have HF100's, the predecessor to HF200, and am pleased with their performance and image quality.

[briancmo]

I just looked around the site and it seems like the final quality is more up to the person behind the camera (imagine my shock) and how the video was processed on the computer to add contrast and saturation. I was however surprised by the video quality off a sample clip from the 500D which made me consider getting that since it's the same price, though from what I read it only shoots 1280 not 1920 and maxes out at 20fps.

[charliec]

I just looked around the site and it seems like the final quality is more up to the person behind the camera (imagine my shock) and how the video was processed on the computer to add contrast and saturation. I was however surprised by the video quality off a sample clip from the 500D which made me consider getting that since it's the same price, though from what I read it only shoots 1280 not 1920 and maxes out at 20fps.

I think some of that may be the effect of image degradation from post processing and compressing.

Available light and shooting has some impact, but the camcorder is pretty automated and will give superb results. It's hard to judge the quality of a 1920x1080 24 Mbps clip when it's been compressed and downsized. That being said, most people (including myself) will downsize and compress a clip before using it, especially if it's going online.

I can try and give you a high res sample (higher than vimeo) devoid of any post processing if you're interested.

[Zepher]

http://syndicate.sellpoint.net/canon/108987/19825-V5VTT4-5-player-T1_MP/MPPlayer/__MPPlayer.html?r=1246404370035&ParentUrl=http%3A//www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller%3Fact%3DModelInfoAct%26fcategoryid%3D17 7%26modelid%3D17994
720p sample from canon.

1080P,
http://syndicate.sellpoint.net/canon/108988/19825-OSUL6L-12-player-T1_MP/MPPlayer/__MPPlayer.html?r=1246404497952&ParentUrl=http%3A//www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller%3Fact%3DModelInfoAct%26fcategoryid%3D17 7%26modelid%3D17994

both links will re-size your browser.

[Bruce Foreman]

I was however surprised by the video quality off a sample clip from the 500D which made me consider getting that since it's the same price, though from what I read it only shoots 1280 not 1920 and maxes out at 20fps.

The 500D shoots at 1920x1080 at 20fps (I haven't even tried this mode) or 1280x720 30fps which I use. Here is a link to a sample where I tested using a Nikon lens on it for very shallow DOF and selective focus. The important part is where I aimed the cam at a model and was in full control of focus.

The first part I had no one to run the camera and had to try to "walk into" a focus point.

http://www.vimeo.com/5387679