Ready to purchase a HD camcorder

mbush wrote on 12/14/2009, 8:25 PM

I'm ready to purchase a HD camcorder. After sorting through reviews and specs, It seem that the Cannon HV-40 is a likely candidate. I need a camcorder that records well, especially in low light conditions and its video doesn't give me the blues when editing with Vegas 9.0c. It has been mention here that there was the possibiltiy of noticable drop-out caused by the tape media - this concerns me. The flash memory and hard drive camcorders don't appear to do as well in low light. I would like to upgrade to a Pro consumer class camcorder, but that will be a while in the future.
I appreciate anyone sharing any known pitfalls concerning the choice camcorder I'm making and its use with Vegas. I will also accept any recommendations of other promising candidates (within $200 of the Hv-40). Many thanks in advance.

Comments

farss wrote on 12/14/2009, 8:51 PM

Take a look at the Sony HC9. We've got 4 and they go everywhere. Underwater footage shot with them is on TV around the world :)
I have the earlier version the HC5 and even in low light it does not look shabby up against my EX1.
Build quality of Canon's cheaper cameras leave a bit to be desired. I'm not averse to the images Canon cameras produce but working in rentals you get a good feel for what'll keep working for years and what will not.
The HC9 has pretty much everything you'll ever need. OK, no XLR audio inputs but you do get an external mic input, you get manual control of audio and vision and a quite usable semi-auto exposure mode and it works very well if you invest a little time with it.

If you're really worried about low light, remember an on camera light is very cheap and any camera will love you for using one.

Bob.

UlfLaursen wrote on 12/14/2009, 9:43 PM

Bob, has the HC9 manual WB?

Thanks.

/Ulf

xberk wrote on 12/14/2009, 11:09 PM

I recently got a Sony EX500V .. Excellent in low light. Even shoots with no light at all via Infrared. This is a cool feature for me as I generally get into nearly no light situations doing documentary/travel footage and low light level was a biggie for me. The other biggie was an Electronic ViewFinder. I shoot a lot in bright sun and I hate just relying on the LCD when I can't really see it. The EX500V has a decent Viewfinder. Another thing was an external mic. Makes a huge diff in sound if you get a decent mic. The HD quality is excellent but I'm no expert on that. I just go by how it looks. Looks great to me! The AVCHD works well and transfers to my PC go smoothly. Just USB connect and drag and drop to where ever (directly into Vegas if you want) -- way way faster than tape transfer. I've had no problem working in Vegas with the AVCHD files (without a proxy) -- but I think that's mainly that my i5-750 can handle it. You do need a very fast CPU to edit AVCHD no matter whose camera. I give the EX500V high marks.

farss wrote on 12/15/2009, 12:20 AM

"Bob, has the HC9 manual WB?"

I'd have to check for you to be 100% certain but our old HC5 sure does, buried away in the menu where you'd never expect to find it, heck we had it for a year before I found it. I can't imagine Sony pulled it on the later models but you never know.

Spot focus is pretty good too. Obviously having to access almost everything though menus is a PIA for me but for a B cam that the wife operates it's great. No buttons to get accidently pushed in the dark.

Bob.

Patryk Rebisz wrote on 12/15/2009, 1:18 AM

You are asking for something that doesn't exist. By focusing on a small chip camcorders that shoot HD you are asking for the chip to deliver HD signal out of it microscopic size - it won't happen. Either use larger cameras with larger sensors or accept that gain will be there no matter what with those tiny camcorders if you are shooting in low light situations. That said Canon HV40 is a superb camera that uses similar technology that their award winning DSLRs use -- in other words, great choice.

UlfLaursen wrote on 12/15/2009, 10:49 AM

Thanks Bob :-)

According to this - it has:

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/sony-handycam-hdr-hc9/4507-6500_7-32814495.html

/Ulf

mbush wrote on 12/15/2009, 7:15 PM

[i]" I recently got a Sony EX500V .."

I'm searching for the EX500V, but not finding anything. Is there a typo or am I overlooking something?

xberk wrote on 12/15/2009, 7:33 PM

Oppps. It's an XR500V .. Sorry. Getting old and all those letters confuse me. XR is for Exmor which is a backlit CMOS which makes it so damn wonderful. What ever you call it ( I'd call EX for Exmor) it works quite nicely and the OIS ( Optical Image Stabilization) works the best of any I've seen.

mbush wrote on 12/22/2009, 10:05 PM

I would like to think everyone for their input. I thought that I should have been able to have made a choice by now, but it's worst than I thought. As you know, the perfect camcorder isn't out there. I looked at a Sony HDR-CX500V (the only candidate that I've been able to find in a store to lay hands on). I'll probably go with the HDR-XR500 if I find it at a good price. I'm not a professional, but I'm wanting to get more serious with the works that I'm doing which is mostly for our church, but don't want to be limited by the wrong choice of camcorder. Thanks again everyone.

xberk wrote on 12/22/2009, 10:43 PM

Love my XR500V. Bought mine at B&H for safety (wasn't the lowest price). Not sorry. You won't regret the EVF and the audio input to add a good mic. Still haven't picked up a flash card. Just haven't needed it but it's there when I do.