Your help choosing a HD camcorder

Chewoot · 07-01-2009, 02:41 AM

Good morning, i am new to the forum and are hoping that your experiences can help me choose a Full HD camcorder for my upcoming holiday to the USA.
I have a 46" Full HD Sony LCD at home and want a camcorder to help bring back memories from my Orlando holiday in September. I want to use it for all the normal holiday maker type stuff which includes the night time fireworks which i hope it will excel being HD. I have seen some video on the likes of YouTube which are stunning and some which are shocking (i know this can be down to editing).
I have seen so many reviews about that i have started to chase myself up my own ****. So i thought i would ask people in the know who have real experiences with the products. I have a budget really of upto £1000 at a push.

Your reviews would be really appriciated.

Thankyou all in advance
Jamie

TomInJax · 07-01-2009, 07:48 PM

My pick would be between Canon and Sony. Both brands take stunning video.

My experience is with Canon. I have used the HF100 and now have the HF S100. I love the video and you will be blown out of the room at the sharpness and detail with these "amateur" camcorders. The new HF S100 is rated at 900 lines, which is putting it in professional resolution. I loved the HF100 and can highly recommend it. I also have heard excellent reviews of the HF11.

My HF S100 has a 3 minute pre-record mode and the built in (loss-less) 1.7x tele-extender. Combined with the 10x optical zoom, the overall zoom range of this camcorder is 17x. It records at 24Mb if you want the highest resolution possible. I have used mine for about 2 months so far, and am amazed every time I play back the video on my 52" LCD HD TV. I especially like going tapeless. With just a few SDHC 32GB cards, you can record for days.

Either way, if you go with Canon or Sony - and stick with the higher end models, you will be amazed at the quality of HD video that these cameras record.

-Tom

Diamond · 07-01-2009, 08:10 PM

I agree with above.Sony or Canon are good quality brand for HD camcorder.There are 2 models that I would suggest for your choice. First is Canon HG21,it dhoot up to 45 hrs of HD movies to 120Gb Hard Disk Drive.1920x1080 Full HD recording at up to 24Mbps
It is very easy to use even without using the 'easy' button option,lightweight and high video quality.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...SIN=B001DZSA76

Another good model Sony HDRXR520VE.Full HD 1920 x 1080 video with 5.1 surround sound recording.Up to 101 hours HD recording on 240GB internal hard drive.Video quality is excellent.Photo quality good.Fairly easy to use.Mic jack to allow external microphones
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...SIN=B001PGXA5K

ckeener · 07-14-2009, 01:21 PM

Also the Canon Vixia HG20 seems to be the most promising… that's reasonably easy to operate and looks good, too. It's almost identical to the company's Vixia HF11. In addition to the price differential, there's only a few spec variations between the flash-based HF11 and the HG20. Best thing would be to do little research using any shopping guide and go to a video shop and try out some of the cameras you're looking at.

07-01-2009, 02:41 AM	#1
Chewoot What is HD? Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 4	Your help choosing a HD camcorder Good morning, i am new to the forum and are hoping that your experiences can help me choose a Full HD camcorder for my upcoming holiday to the USA. I have a 46" Full HD Sony LCD at home and want a camcorder to help bring back memories from my Orlando holiday in September. I want to use it for all the normal holiday maker type stuff which includes the night time fireworks which i hope it will excel being HD. I have seen some video on the likes of YouTube which are stunning and some which are shocking (i know this can be down to editing). I have seen so many reviews about that i have started to chase myself up my own ****. So i thought i would ask people in the know who have real experiences with the products. I have a budget really of upto £1000 at a push. Your reviews would be really appriciated. Thankyou all in advance Jamie

07-01-2009, 07:48 PM	#2
TomInJax Memories in HD Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: NE Florida Posts: 79	My pick would be between Canon and Sony. Both brands take stunning video. My experience is with Canon. I have used the HF100 and now have the HF S100. I love the video and you will be blown out of the room at the sharpness and detail with these "amateur" camcorders. The new HF S100 is rated at 900 lines, which is putting it in professional resolution. I loved the HF100 and can highly recommend it. I also have heard excellent reviews of the HF11. My HF S100 has a 3 minute pre-record mode and the built in (loss-less) 1.7x tele-extender. Combined with the 10x optical zoom, the overall zoom range of this camcorder is 17x. It records at 24Mb if you want the highest resolution possible. I have used mine for about 2 months so far, and am amazed every time I play back the video on my 52" LCD HD TV. I especially like going tapeless. With just a few SDHC 32GB cards, you can record for days. Either way, if you go with Canon or Sony - and stick with the higher end models, you will be amazed at the quality of HD video that these cameras record. -Tom __________________ Canon HF S100

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07-01-2009, 08:10 PM	#3
Diamond How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 16	I agree with above.Sony or Canon are good quality brand for HD camcorder.There are 2 models that I would suggest for your choice. First is Canon HG21,it dhoot up to 45 hrs of HD movies to 120Gb Hard Disk Drive.1920x1080 Full HD recording at up to 24Mbps It is very easy to use even without using the 'easy' button option,lightweight and high video quality. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...SIN=B001DZSA76 Another good model Sony HDRXR520VE.Full HD 1920 x 1080 video with 5.1 surround sound recording.Up to 101 hours HD recording on 240GB internal hard drive.Video quality is excellent.Photo quality good.Fairly easy to use.Mic jack to allow external microphones http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...SIN=B001PGXA5K

07-14-2009, 01:21 PM	#4
ckeener My plasma is High Def. Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 9	Also the Canon Vixia HG20 seems to be the most promising… that's reasonably easy to operate and looks good, too. It's almost identical to the company's Vixia HF11. In addition to the price differential, there's only a few spec variations between the flash-based HF11 and the HG20. Best thing would be to do little research using any shopping guide and go to a video shop and try out some of the cameras you're looking at.