Lowest priced High Def ?

Jonb2010

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My Canon MV750i has died and I need to get a new camcorder. I've seen a few camcorders just over the £500 mark but wondered if there is anything cheaper.

I was planning on spending £300 on a new one but if I could spend a little bit more for a high def model then I may be able to convince the wife :thumbsup:

As an alternative what would you guys recommed as a good MiniDV standard def for £300 ? Not too worried about loads of features, picture quality is more important than anything else.
 
You can get high def camcorders from £500 and up... e.g. can get Canon HV10 for just over £500.

There are also some hybrid models (a Sanyo, and one from Canon) which are more like digital cameras with a video mode, but that video mode is high def. These don't match the quality of a "proper" HD camcorer IMHO.

For £300, I suggest the Panasonic GS320. A good SD model.
 
Hi redsox_mark thanks for your reply. I just thought I would give my Canon another chance and when I looked at it again it was working ok.

I'll keep an eye on it and hopefully it will last long enough for the high def models to come down in price to match my budget.
 
Maybe but I have never seen any footage from a VPC-HDx taken without a tripod that was any good. The EIS by all accounts is NBG.
 
Maybe but I have never seen any footage from a VPC-HDx taken without a tripod that was any good. The EIS by all accounts is NBG.

I just got mine a few days ago. It's my first camcorder and I'm very pleased with it. It's supposed to have image stabilisation but it's very shaky at full zoom when held in the hand. Pretty good with no zoom though and I attached it to my car dashboard (with blutack) today an the results were quite impressive.
 
What's your image stabilisation like at no zoom, hand-held?

I had a Panasonic SDR-S150 last year: want the same form factor but in HD. 720p would suit me for the time being. Have read loads of stuff about the HD2 but the EIS issue always put me off. Other things being equal it sounds very good.
 
It turns out I had the image stabilisation turned off, which seems to be the default setting. Now I've turned it on and there's a clear improvement. As it's late at night I've only tried it inside with lights on, but I was able to get a much better image at full zoom handheld. I'll have to try it outside in daylight to see what difference it makes.
 
That's good news. I need a camcorder to take to Ireland a week today. I did buy an HV10 but it was too noisy (could just have been mine) so I sent it back.

I don't suppose you have anywhere you can upload a sample with the EIS on, handheld, could you? Pretty please? :)
 
I've uploaded a 35mb file here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GB2TGGQJ

It's just to demonstrate using the image stabilisation. It's taken inside in low light. It starts at no zoom then zooms to 10x and out again. My hand isn't very steady, but even at full zoom it's a lot better than without stabilisation. The focus is quite slow when pointing at something dark at full zoom.
 
Downloading that now, thanks. How fast is the focus while panning (slowly) outside in good light?
 
I've got nothing to compare it with so it's difficult to judge, but I would say the focus keeps up well when panning in good light. There's only a noticable delay when zooming in quickly to something.
 
I think that the noise in the lowlight sample is a bit more than I was expecting of the HD2. Sure, in the HD1 but I thought they had improved things a lot for the HD2.
 
The EIS on the HD2 is not the best, in fact some users prefer to keep it turned off as it can cause flickering on subjects, eg if shooting a building from distance in good light, the window frames may appear to flicker but if you have zoomed and focused your shot it may help to turn it on.
It should be remembered that this cam is very small and therfore has limitations but it does take good video, you just have to get used to using it and keep your hands steady (true for most cams)
 
I know that they do produce very good video - I saw lots from the HD1 last year. Some of it is stunning, especially on a 720p TV.

I don't know why I didn't buy one. OK, I do, it was the EIS and the low light imaging. Mind you the pundits say the low level performance of my SDR-S150 is no good but I beg to differ.
 
I bought a VPC HD1 last year, tempted by the samples I downloaded. I am about to sell it as the quality of pictures in terms of exposure, low light performance etc is outrageous. May be the HD2 is better, but the reviews I have read so far say there are better SD cameras than that! I am looking at the Sony HD SR5e now.
 
The trouble with reviews is that very many are written by people who know nothing about the items they are looking at, still less how to use them properly.

Very many people enthuse wildly about the HD Xactis, and these tend to be the people who have used them.

I was looking at an HD2 but reluctantly concluded that it's still not quite up there in terms of image quality, and auto-focussing, particularly in low light.

I bought a Panasonic SDR-S150 to tide me over until I can find an HD cam that fits my bill. Now, let's make way for the guys who'll tell you what I should have bought. :)
 
I really want a HD Camcorder but they are pricey! :p
Esp. since my current camcorder is dead...

If anyone spots some bargains, please do post them.
 
OK, I downloaded the one with the train.

It doesn't prove anything though, does it? The HD1 and the HD1a and the HD2 were all fine, as long as you used a tripod and as long as you used them in bright light conditions. This sample is in bright light and on a tripod.

It's the low light shots, hand held, where the previous HD Xactis fell down.

I will say that the colours don't look so saturated as previous Xacti video I have seen (and I have seen a lot).
 
OK, I downloaded the one with the train.

It doesn't prove anything though, does it? The HD1 and the HD1a and the HD2 were all fine, as long as you used a tripod and as long as you used them in bright light conditions. This sample is in bright light and on a tripod.

It's the low light shots, hand held, where the previous HD Xactis fell down.

I will say that the colours don't look so saturated as previous Xacti video I have seen (and I have seen a lot).

Until its released we will not get a definite answer but it's suppose to have an image stabiliser, which I know the hd1 and hd2 had but whether its better than the these (can't be any worse) I don't know.
 
Agree, it would be nice to see a contender that'll do 720p natively. Not everybody has a 1080 HDTV.

The CCI review took the biscuit on this cam. Marked down because being small it would be hard to use by somebody with big hands. Oh, and it won't stand up on its own.
 

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