Camcorder for Wildlife?

[dt3k]

Can anyone recommend some reasonable camcorders with a good optical zoom. I'd like to video some wildlife on country walk?

Thanks

[rhubarbe]

It depends what you men by good optical zoom. Cheap consumer cams can have an optical zoom of up to 30x and you might think that this is better than the 10x zoom of some more expensive cams. In fact the cams with 10x zoom are better, mainly because they have larger CCDs - the smaller the CCD the longer the zoom possible, some bright sparks will explain it I can't.

The other side of the coin is that you won't be able to hold the cam still enough to use a 30x zoom and the cheaper cams have no optical image stabilisation OIS, which does at least make holding a decent cam with 10x zoom still enough to be able to shoot anything.

[redsox_mark]

Totally agree... let us know your budget and we can recommend some good camcorders.... I think you'll find 10x zoom is enough...

[dt3k]

Was planning on using a lightweight tripod. I don't think x10 would allow me to get close enough to any wildlife unless I was setup in a hide. The Mini-dv cams seem to have come down a lot due to the introduction of the HD hard drive cams...so I reckon I don't want to spend more than about £250.

[redsox_mark]

Canon MD160.... good performance for the money... has a 35x zoom should you need it.

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by dt3k

Can anyone recommend some reasonable camcorders with a good optical zoom. I'd like to video some wildlife on country walk?

Thanks

for widlife you will need a long zoom,but i would never try filming wildlife witout a tripod.

[dt3k]

Thanks guys the MD160 looks ideal!

[Tassimo]

I recently bought the Sony DCR-HC51e for wildlife filming, for two reasons. The 40x optical zoom, and the fact that I am a retired, full time wedding videographer. Where my weapon of choice was a Sony VX1000, which used MiniDV tapes. Of which I now have hundreds, lying about. The image definition is brilliant. The 40x zoom is essential for birds. I also carry a Manfrotto tripod which is mandatory for max zoom shots.
I also use a Nikon D200. My largest lens is a Sigma 170-500mm zoom. And so was astounded to note that the HC51 at max. (optical) zoom gets closer than the Sigma.