Night Time recording camcorder ?

[Battlestar]

HI all ,

Quick question for you all ,

Can you recomend me a good mid priced camcorder for recording wildlife at night time and in pretty much zero light. I dont really know much about these sort of things and would really appreciate some advice .

Thanks.

Dave.

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by Dave-S

Can you recomend me a good mid priced camcorder for recording wildlife at night time and in pretty much zero light.

Hi there,

I don't think "zero light" and "mid priced" go together in the world of videography. Some cameras have a night mode - for example, the Sony HDR-HC9 (approx £600–£700) - but so-called night modes on consumer cameras are a bit of a gimmick really, and pretty useless over about 10 feet.

Good infrared recording systems are going to cost a lot more, AFAIK.

Cheers,
Andrew.

[mmace]

pretty sure most Sonys that have single CCD or CMOS have night vision recording, and if the light on the camcorder isn't strong enough (inra-red light) I'm sure you can buy something seperate that will send out a stronger IR light that the camera will pick up
may be wrong though

[rickyt]

Whatever camera you choose I dont think you'll ever be able to get good quality colour pictures unless you use a light [not Infra-red]. Some cameras are able to take footage in the dark , but only B&W. My old Sharp WL-450 has night modes and something called 'CatsEye' settings which will take B&W pictures in total darkness ,but only about 3 or 4 metres in front of the lens .Look on e-b-a-y for
the infra-red lamps ,there normally a square box with a hundred or so L.E.D's on the front . Some can shine an invisible light for 40 or 50 metres ,many work from a 12v source .