What camcorder to buy?

[beefcake]

man, i never thought it would be so hard to find a cam corder

went to best buy, they had like 7 or 8, they used to have 20+ to pick from.

went to hhgregg. 1, yeah, 1 camera? wtf

they said they are making room for the 2013 models?

i'm figuring i want good image stabilzation, big optical zoom?

what's new out there i should be looking for?

[thrillrr]

I bought one off of amazon for 150.00 panasonic hc-v100m it has i/s and 42x zoom. I didnt want to spend to much to use at the track.

[redfirepearlgt]

Panasonic is a good one. There is an outlet website operated by Panasonic. Google it. Sony is another good option but more money because of their name. Canon has had repeated issues with battery life. (newer models as of 2013 or higher end units may rnot have this issue people have commented on.) They also have a Canon outlet and those cameras can be as low as $100 refurbed. They are thie cheap for a reason...battery life even with a larger battery from the reviews. JVC makes a respectable unit. I just purchased their Addixion action cam and love it. Samsung also is reputable.

In the end the camera should be able to produce mpeg2 and/or mpeg4. The best thing to do is to go play with them. Find one that fits your hand, has smooth zooming effect. Remember the larger the zoom range the more jumpy the zoom in/out can get. Last pay attention to optical zoom. Digital zoom is nice, but it really sin't creating zoom, it simply crops in. Good luck. No thanks required.

[Goober]

http://www.fryfilm.com/Images/Handsfree%20Segway%20Steadicam.jpg

Segway mounted Stedicam. Live Action!

[beefcake]

Panasonic is a good one. There is an outlet website operated by Panasonic. Google it. Sony is another good option but more money because of their name. Canon has had repeated issues with battery life. (newer models as of 2013 or higher end units may rnot have this issue people have commented on.) They also have a Canon outlet and those cameras can be as low as $100 refurbed. They are thie cheap for a reason...battery life even with a larger battery from the reviews. JVC makes a respectable unit. I just purchased their Addixion action cam and love it. Samsung also is reputable.

In the end the camera should be able to produce mpeg2 and/or mpeg4. The best thing to do is to go play with them. Find one that fits your hand, has smooth zooming effect. Remember the larger the zoom range the more jumpy the zoom in/out can get. Last pay attention to optical zoom. Digital zoom is nice, but it really sin't creating zoom, it simply crops in. Good luck. No thanks required.

i friggin tried, nobody hardly carries anything in the store anymore

i was floored when i walked in hhgregg and they had 1, just 1 camera in the entire store

[Katmandu]

man, i never thought it would be so hard to find a cam corderAre you looking for a dash cam or a hand held ?

[beefcake]

Are you looking for a dash cam or a hand held ?

i've got a go pro for on / in car

i'm looking for a handheld to make good vids with mainly at the track / kids sporting events

[redfirepearlgt]

I was recently at the Tricounty Best Buy and they had a decent selection there. Fields Ertel also seems to have a respectable selection. HHgregg has nothing AT all. Don't know how they are staying afloat. Must have a sales staff that can sell ketchup popcycles to white glove debutant's in the midst of a heat wave in Mississippi. Ahoway try BB in those two locations if you haven't already. Otherwise I can speak with my brother-in-law who isa professinal videographer and get his feedback on which of hte hand helds is the best for the buck.

I sure miss the days of Swallens, Audio Warehouse, Hemsath, Sight-n-Sound, Steinbergs, Stereo Lab, and Radio Shack when they were really Radio Shack.

[redfirepearlgt]

On the panasonic the only thing driving the price are the additional features. The same quality will be found on the $200 version as the $500 version. Just more bells and whistles. Pretty much the same on the Sony's as well. On either of these two labels you really can't go wrong. I would suggest making sure you get one with image stablization. One with a larger optical zoom will give you better clarity than one using "digital zoom". Most will have both. Focus on the optical zoom number. Screw the digital. Get a very good 32 or 64GB SDcard as well. If you wish to really step up into high end cameras, these are the two names in the industry (aside from canon) to look at on the high end stuff per my research. If you wish more let me know. i can contact my brother-in-law who is a semi-pro videographer.