Budget camcorder uner £200 for 16yr old daughter

[jimbob19]

After some advice really , my daughter is very much into media at school.
The use MV830i's at school I believe and she wants a camcorder for xmas , but it must have nightshot mode - even if it is b/w

I have narrowed the choice down to either the mv830i or a sony DCR-HC24E and possibly a sub £200 JVC JVC GR-D340EK , was initially looking at some of the samsungs but they seem to get poor reviews.
Which would be the best camcorder to get out of that range considering it has to have good nightshoot ability

 

[redsox_mark]

MV830i is a discontinued model, but if you can find one it's decent.

Of the current range they all have night mode - even the entry level MV890. The MV890 even has a microphone input.

The Sony DCR-HC24E is OK and also has night model, as is the JVC GR-D340EK. The differences aren't that big between all of these, but I find the Canon models generally best at this price point.

 

[jimbob19]

Are all these models about the same in low light ?

Thanks

 

[redsox_mark]

Let me answer this in two ways:

In normal shooting (not using any special night mode), the MV890 (or MV830i) is better than the Sony HC24.

If you are talking about shooting in near darkness - they approach this in different ways. The Sony has a built in IR light, which shoots "green and white" images. This allows you to get reasonably clear video even in total darkness, though without colour.

The Canon's night mode is to reduce the shutter speed etc... to keep the colour but try and improve the picture in low light. So as a plus you get colour, on the downside it isn't as clear, and if there is a lot of movement will look poor.

All the Sony models have this IR light/night mode... it's generally not common on other brands.

 

[jimbob19]

Thanks for the explanation Mark