Looking for an HD video camera.....and I'm a NOOB ;)

[level42]

I'm planning on buying a HD video camera. Up till now I have a Grundig (=Sharp) miniDV cam, but the resolution of that is poor for any future TV and computer use. It also has colors that are not what I like and not real 16:9 support. Also, since I didn't use it much anymore, I fear my batteries are dead, and buying new one's (IF I can find them, rare model) may already cost a decent way to a brand new camera....which of course has LOADS of advantages.

I don't need 3D, nor does it have to be a pro-cam.

I checked out a lot of the "bloggy" /compact video camera's but they all have minuscule (fixed) lenses, and ALL the material I saw from them on Youtube look like there's a constant earthquake around the globe.

So, I want a "real" camcorder but it may be an entry level cam, MUST be HD, optical stabilization, good lens. etc.

I checked out the Canon Legria HF-R206, but that one's pretty expensive IMHO.
Then I looked at the Panasonic HDC-SD40 but that one seems to have a smaller size CMOS than the competition which gives poor low-light results. Also, it uses buttons instead of a touch-screen...
Then I found the Samsung HMX-Q10. It looks the perfect one for me. It's very affordable (€249 and €20 euro cash-back at the moment), it has a special CMOS chip (better low light results) and touch-screen controls and a Scheider lens. Also looks to have excellent video quality.

I'm not a particular Samsung fan though....(neighbors TV of 4 year old already died...)

Seeing the cash-back option, and getting 5 years of warranty at a certain dealer (www.kamera-express.nl) I don't think I will buy this in the US (it's about €200 there). However, just for technical reasons, they still mention PAL and NTSC on these camera's, I thought that was a thing of the past ??

Anyone any experience with HD cams ??

[DarthNuno]

Well, not really a model to advise you, but more something you've to check before : how the camera will react when filming an arcade monitor/TV.
It sounds stupid but when I got my last camera (Sony Cyber-shoot DSC-HX5), I didn't pay attention to that, just because making movie wasn't my priority and I thought there was no more problem about that ... but ... unfortunately ... when I use my camera for short movie, I can see the 'monitor raster' very strongly on all my videos  Maybe there's a setting to fix that, but I didn't find it yet...

[level42]

Good point. Only a little hard to try at a shop these days, no 50Hz CRT TV's there anymore to try it on

Most HD cams allow to film in different fps. I have no idea which would be best for filming CRT's in arcade monitors.

I've already learned a lot more about them. The Samsung I mentioned looked great at that price, but, as always, there's a catch: it recordss in 1080i. Not 1080p.

That little i means interlaced. Which means it records HALF frames and interleaves them ! IMHO that isn't even true full HD, but since (full) HD is not a protected name, anybody can use it as they like....

1080p means that every frame is a full non-interleaved frame so that's much better of course.
It totally disqualified the camera for me.

There was a nice JVC on sale at Media Markt here but the disadvantage of that one was that it doesn't have back-lit CMOS sensor, which means more noise in low light conditions....

Anyway, a friend let me know I could lend her Full HD cam (which is above the price range I'm looking for) for the holiday. On one hand, very nice of her, but on the other, I think I really want one for myself, I love watching HD Youtube movies

[level42]

OK....decided to get this one:

JVC Everio GZ-HM650.
http://www.jvc.co.uk/product.php?id=GZ-HM650BEK&catid=100147

It's a bit more expensive than the 445, but it has a much better CMOS (back-lit) sensor, which has a higher resolution but also gives much better results in low light (very important for us ! )

I'll have to pick it up this afternoon...expect some great quality Youtube stuff from me after this weekend

It also features Time lapse with intervals you can select. Might be fun to use it for the build-up at Eurocade