What features to look for on a new video camera?
Discussion
I'm looking to buy a new video camera but having never owned one before I know nothing about them and what features I should look for.
I have a budget of about £300. I'd like it to be compact and be able to take decent still photos as well. I assume the images are recorded on to an SD card of some sort, how do I play these back and can I burn them to CD to play on a TV or give away to relatives? I have a mac laptop, does this affect what I buy?
Alternatively should I buy a digital stills camera with video function (I also need a new camera), if I went this route is the video function compromised too much? Is a video camera with stills function a better idea?
Any advice on what to get and features I should look out for would be most appreciated.
I have a budget of about £300. I'd like it to be compact and be able to take decent still photos as well. I assume the images are recorded on to an SD card of some sort, how do I play these back and can I burn them to CD to play on a TV or give away to relatives? I have a mac laptop, does this affect what I buy?
Alternatively should I buy a digital stills camera with video function (I also need a new camera), if I went this route is the video function compromised too much? Is a video camera with stills function a better idea?
Any advice on what to get and features I should look out for would be most appreciated.
The panasonic Lumix range is what you want. Pros are, great camera, good video in 720p and compact size. Cons are, records in .mov format, can only record 15mins of video at a time, poor low light recording.
Things you need to know. Unless you intend to buy huge amounts of memory cards you will need to save them to your computer and the HD format takes up a lot of space. If you want to share your movies then unless viewed on another computer you will need to convert the .mov into something else, which is a pain. Yes you can burn them to a DVD format witht he correct software but this will only be SD.
HTH
Things you need to know. Unless you intend to buy huge amounts of memory cards you will need to save them to your computer and the HD format takes up a lot of space. If you want to share your movies then unless viewed on another computer you will need to convert the .mov into something else, which is a pain. Yes you can burn them to a DVD format witht he correct software but this will only be SD.
HTH
Road2Ruin said:
The panasonic Lumix range is what you want. Pros are, great camera, good video in 720p and compact size. Cons are, records in .mov format, can only record 15mins of video at a time, poor low light recording.
Things you need to know. Unless you intend to buy huge amounts of memory cards you will need to save them to your computer and the HD format takes up a lot of space. If you want to share your movies then unless viewed on another computer you will need to convert the .mov into something else, which is a pain. Yes you can burn them to a DVD format witht he correct software but this will only be SD.
HTH
Thanks for the reply, sorry for stupid question, when you say Lumix range, do u mean compact camera or video camera?Things you need to know. Unless you intend to buy huge amounts of memory cards you will need to save them to your computer and the HD format takes up a lot of space. If you want to share your movies then unless viewed on another computer you will need to convert the .mov into something else, which is a pain. Yes you can burn them to a DVD format witht he correct software but this will only be SD.
HTH
Why is .mov a disadvantage? What other format is better?
Your answer has made me realise I know even less than I thought about video cameras!! Most appreciated though.
Yep he thought you wanted a still camera that takes vid, not the other way round.
.Mov is the Apple Mac format, and most compact still cameras that take Vid use that format. You can convert it, but it's a bit of a faff.
If you really DO want a vid camera, not a still camera that takes vid, then there are versions out there that will store on tape (with an SD card for your stills), or store everything without tape.
I use a couple of high end video cameras and still prefer to use tape for Vid.
You then connect the video camera to your PC (or Mac) and IMPORT - using something like Windows Movie Maker (You'll have it on your PC) - It'll store as AVI (used by both PC and MAC) BUT, you'll need a firewire connection on both PC and Camera or again it'll be a real faff.
Most modern PCs that cost more than £400 should have a firewire in/out
Don't rule out a still camera that can take vid. I also use the Canon S95 which can take nearly 2 hours of HD vid on a 32 gig SD card. (in .Mov format)
HTH
.Mov is the Apple Mac format, and most compact still cameras that take Vid use that format. You can convert it, but it's a bit of a faff.
If you really DO want a vid camera, not a still camera that takes vid, then there are versions out there that will store on tape (with an SD card for your stills), or store everything without tape.
I use a couple of high end video cameras and still prefer to use tape for Vid.
You then connect the video camera to your PC (or Mac) and IMPORT - using something like Windows Movie Maker (You'll have it on your PC) - It'll store as AVI (used by both PC and MAC) BUT, you'll need a firewire connection on both PC and Camera or again it'll be a real faff.
Most modern PCs that cost more than £400 should have a firewire in/out
Don't rule out a still camera that can take vid. I also use the Canon S95 which can take nearly 2 hours of HD vid on a 32 gig SD card. (in .Mov format)
HTH
Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 5th July 11:40
Thanks for the reply. I'm happy to have a stills camera that takes video as long as the quality isnt compromised too much. One item to do two jobs would be great but since I'm not really up with technology I didnt know if a separate camera was best.
Video quality is most important to me as I'll be taking vids of family etc that hopefully we'll keep for always. I currently have a 5mp stills camera and that is ok so any slight improvement on stills quality is a benefit but mainly I want good quality vid, and ease of play back/copying to dvd on my mac.
Video quality is most important to me as I'll be taking vids of family etc that hopefully we'll keep for always. I currently have a 5mp stills camera and that is ok so any slight improvement on stills quality is a benefit but mainly I want good quality vid, and ease of play back/copying to dvd on my mac.
GetCarter said:
Don't rule out a still camera that can take vid. I also use the Canon S95 which can take nearly 2 hours of HD vid on a 32 gig SD card. (in .Mov format)
HTH
How does the quality of vid from your stills camera compare to a dedicated video camera? Is HD vid top quality? I'd want something better than you tube quality/camera phone rubbish.HTH
Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 5th July 11:40
Miles better than a camera phone/ Almost as good as a dedicated video camera.
http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/digital-camer...
http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/digital-camer...
Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 5th July 12:23
Yes the lumix range is a compact camera with video capabilities. I was aware that was not your first choice, but I think it is the best choice. Video cameras that take stills are not very good at the stills. I wouldn't go for the tape option as they are more prone to errors and transferring them can only be done in real time. So if you take a 1 hour video it takes one hour to transfer. Transfering from and sd card takes minutes. I wouldn't worry too much about what format the camera records in because you will have to change the format if you want to do anything with it. This will be the case with just about all cameras. Whilst it does take a while to transcode you don't have to sit and watch it doing it. Make sure you have adeqaute backup for all your movies, not just on the computer.
I had a Panasonic Lumix LX5 and it's a great wee camera. As a stills camera i couldn't fault it at all and the video in 720p 30fps is also very good. I filmed this with the LX5....
http://www.youtube.com/user/bfbjock?feature=mhum#p...
at 720p and the quality is pretty decent.
Regarding the movie files,using the Mac i just stick the SD card in the side and the files transfer straight into Imovie11 which i was using then no problem at all.
http://www.youtube.com/user/bfbjock?feature=mhum#p...
at 720p and the quality is pretty decent.
Regarding the movie files,using the Mac i just stick the SD card in the side and the files transfer straight into Imovie11 which i was using then no problem at all.
nessiemac said:
I had a Panasonic Lumix LX5 and it's a great wee camera. As a stills camera i couldn't fault it at all and the video in 720p 30fps is also very good. I filmed this with the LX5....
http://www.youtube.com/user/bfbjock?feature=mhum#p...
at 720p and the quality is pretty decent.
Regarding the movie files,using the Mac i just stick the SD card in the side and the files transfer straight into Imovie11 which i was using then no problem at all.
Wow that is an amazing video (both content and quality!!) I can't believe that was taken on a compact, its brilliant. Perhaps I should just get a really good compact and have vid and stills in one unit. Solves the problem of carting a heavy camera around as well as a compact or not having the vid when you really want it.http://www.youtube.com/user/bfbjock?feature=mhum#p...
at 720p and the quality is pretty decent.
Regarding the movie files,using the Mac i just stick the SD card in the side and the files transfer straight into Imovie11 which i was using then no problem at all.
Thanks for your reply I really appreciare it.
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