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Suggested Low Cost Digital Camcorder?

by gragster
15 replies
hey guys,

My wife is pregnant and she really wants a Digital Camcorder so naturally I have 2 get it. I want to get into Youtube marketing and video marketing since I first saw the sales letter for Website Video Secrets. Any recommend a good quality low cost digital camcorder?

She wants a dvd one but I read they are not as good for video editing? Also is Sony the recommended brand for this? Looking to spend between $250-$400. Prefer $300 or less. Thanks for looking.

Any advice is appriciated.
#camcorder #cost #digital #low #suggested
  • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
    If I had limited funds and no cameras, and needed to get a camera knowing what I know - I would go for a used camera actually - one that's been sitting in someones closet and was used at little tommy's birthday party and then forgotten.

    Surf around ebay and look at the different models. You can find something very inexpensive that will come with all kinds of goodies and I'm sure people are hurting for $ now and will get rid of them for almost nothing.

    Low hours are good. Some people shoot maybe 10 hours of video if they're lucky and give up cause it's "work".

    I like to use cameras with mini dv tapes and I tend to lean toward canon. Depends on what you are planning to do with the video.

    If you are thinking youtube, go watch some vids there and comment and ask what stuff was shot on. As for editing software that is a whole other ball of wax. You can spend hundreds or thousands depending on what you're looking to do.
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    • Profile picture of the author buckapple
      Aiptek A-HD 720P 5MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder

      I saw this at Wal-Mart a couple of months ago and thought something that cheap in an HD can't be any good. I told a guy about it that's been into nice sony gear for quite awhile and he said it was probably no good.

      Just the other day I saw him with one and asked if he changed his mind. He said he went ahead and picked one up and he's happy with it. I don't know if they come in different models because they were about $250. I just saw one on amazon for $110.

      Might be worth taking a look if you're going to use it part time because if you can get into HD for $100-$200 forget the other toys in that price range.

      Cheers and congrats!
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      • Profile picture of the author JeffMitchell
        I highly suggest going to any superstore or electronics store and picking up a FLIP. I know you can grab one at Wal-Mart for about $80. It has a 30 min. memory and an incredible picture. The FLIP HD has about an hour of footage and costs around $140. They are great camera's and are very durable. ( i have 2 kids) Grab One

        Jeff Mitchell
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        • Profile picture of the author Nathan Hangen
          Originally Posted by JeffMitchell View Post

          I highly suggest going to any superstore or electronics store and picking up a FLIP. I know you can grab one at Wal-Mart for about $80. It has a 30 min. memory and an incredible picture. The FLIP HD has about an hour of footage and costs around $140. They are great camera's and are very durable. ( i have 2 kids) Grab One

          Jeff Mitchell

          One more for the Flip...I got a Mino and love it.
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  • Profile picture of the author mpeters7
    I'm a little behind on recent models but my biggest recommendation is to NOT get a DVD recorder. From what I've read there's a ton involved in terms of initializing and finishing each disc...and you end up wasting recording space as well as having to wait a lot longer to shoot again once you've finished a disc.

    I'm partial to miniDV but if you're looking for a convenience factor and not as concerned with high image quality, there seems to be a hot market right now for tapeless cameras. These record right to flash memory in the camera and then you can dump the footage to your computer in faster-than-real-time. I think people around here tend to like the Flip, which is small and cheap.

    As far as brands, I tend to like Panasonic in a higher range but at that level it's all the same I think. PM me if you want to know anything more specific.

    HTH
    Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author Darrel Hawes
    I second the vote for the Flip. Easy to use, and it creates AVI files that you can import into a video editor.
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  • Profile picture of the author ManAbout
    Sony webbie,

    Webbie HD Camera
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    • Profile picture of the author TimCastleman
      I second this:

      Aiptek A-HD 720P 5MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder

      Have one, love it. Got mine used off of Craigslist for $85. Gotta love it - came with everything new still in the box.
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      • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
        I use a canon ZR500 - a few years old - works very nicely.

        One thing - audio quality is actually more important than
        video quality. The mics on the cameras usually suck and/or
        pick up camera noise (mine does) - so it's best to get
        one that has a mic jack.

        Capturing can be done straight onto a computer from
        a camera, using a mic plugged into the camera itself.
        This is a very frustrating way to deal with the microphone
        problem as you computer will drop frames sometimes,
        making your audio unintelligible.

        The reason audio is actually more important than high
        quality video is because on the 'net we are used to choppy,
        crappy videos and they are small anyway... but we hate
        audio where we cannot understand what the people
        are saying.
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
    If you get any camera that does not have a microphone input and you are going to be using it for more than just web cam type close up talking head shots you are simply throwing away your money.

    It is far better to save a little more and get a decent camera than to throw your money away and buy twice which is what many people end up doing.

    I would not recommend anything less than this:

    Panasonic PV-GS300 3CCD MiniDv Camcorder PERFECT - eBay (item 120376768912 end time Feb-17-09 14:02:02 PST)

    That camera is out of production but when it was in production it was highly rated by consumers. The newer models do not have microphone input and that one does.

    Now since they are out of production you can usually find them for $200-$350. Searches on ebay might turn up more:

    gs300, Camcorder Accessories, Camera Accessories items on eBay.com

    Other than that I highly recommend you save your money and pick up one of the best consumer hd camera's on the market today which can be found for just under $600 at many online retailers or less used on ebay.

    Its called the Canon HV30 and its phenomenal.

    Or you can settle on blowing $200-$300 on a sub par low quality piece of junk and wish you hadn't wasted your money every time you use it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
      Originally Posted by Josh Anderson View Post


      That camera is out of production but when it was in production it was highly rated by consumers. The newer models do not have microphone input and that one does.
      With the video quality of the consumer cameras getting so good the
      makers of these things are twisting consumers' arms to upgrade to
      the higher-end models to get the audio features. Some of the
      older consumer models were made before this arm-twisting method
      was devised to sell the more costly cameras.
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      • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
        Originally Posted by Loren Woirhaye View Post

        With the video quality of the consumer cameras getting so good the
        makers of these things are twisting consumers' arms to upgrade to
        the higher-end models to get the audio features. Some of the
        older consumer models were made before this arm-twisting method
        was devised to sell the more costly cameras.
        The majority of the low end consumer market do not want to use external microphones.

        Here the need is different because most people are using camera's for business applications and realize that unless you are sitting right in front of a camera the on board mic will make you sound like you are talking in a box (echo).

        The general consumer market demands image quality and few want external mic. Many also demand lower price point and smaller devices.

        So to answer both those demands the companies remove the features that not many consumers in the price range being marketed to want.

        But with the Canon vixia HD line you get the whole package in a very reasonable price range.

        Usually when features are dropped off older versions its done because the demand for those features in the market being targeted was low and the company was trying to meet a lower price target range and reduce the bulk of the device.

        If external mic were really that great of a selling point in the consumer market you would see it offered more and you would see it emphasized on packaging which it never is.

        If all you are doing is creating videos where you never speak or videos where you are sitting directly in front of the camera and close up the external mic is not as necessary.

        For me it is a requirement and a camera not having one is a deal killer.
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  • Profile picture of the author lacraiger
    i'ved used the flip and its decent but low quality for videos. youre better off spending the extra $50 for a better canon digital camera that records video.
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    • Profile picture of the author BeauJustin
      I picked up a Canon VIXIA HG20 HD Video Camcorder at one of my local pawn shops. It's normally about an $800 camcorder brand new, and about $500 on Ebay. I was able to negotiate a price of $120.00 with a very appreciative pawn broker. I could have gotten the HD Flip for about $50.00 if my memory serves.

      The guy told me that right now is the best time he's ever seen to buy electronics from a pawn shop, because of the economy. Every shop I visited had at least one cabinet full of cameras.

      I recommend go to a few pawn shops, take notes on a few brands and models that look interesting, come home and research them on the Internet to see if they meet your needs, and then go back and start negotiating.
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