Handycams purchasing advice

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ahmad

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#141249 5-Mar-2014 23:40

Hi can anyone give me any general advice with regards purchasing a second hand handy cam?

Looking for something cheap but still functional, that will integrate well with iMovie on Mac, and is considered good/reliable technology.

I don't mind whether it is a HDD/SD card or whatever other format so your thoughts on the best format, the best brand/model would be appreciated, along with any general buying advice (especially as it relates to older second hand models).

I'm not really up to speed with 1080p vs 720 or 24 vs 25 vs 30fps and the importance or otherwise. But I am guessing that all recent models will be 16:9?

Thanks in advance.

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#999893 5-Mar-2014 23:46

Gopros seem to be all the rage at the moment. I don't think there is much to be gained buying a second hand handycam, as technology has changed a lot recently

ahmad

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#999894 5-Mar-2014 23:49

Seriously a Go Pro?

I'm looking for second hand due to cheap. Go Pro is expensive well marketed branding right?

mattwnz

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#999895 5-Mar-2014 23:55

ahmad: Seriously a Go Pro?

I'm looking for second hand due to cheap. Go Pro is expensive well marketed branding right?

They don't seem too expensive, compared to what they can do, and they are hi res. The last handy cam I purhcased back in teh 90's was 2k, and was just standard def on tape. You wouldn't want anything less than 1080p, or 720 at a stretch these days. But depedns what you are wanting to do, anything on youtube really needs to be 720 min these days. Buying that sort of thing second hand doesn't necessarily mean you will get it cheap, some second hand things on trademe go for a lot more than they are really worth, sometimes even more than they are new. Many of the handcams on trademe will be sony standard definition old technology.

ahmad

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#999897 6-Mar-2014 00:04

Can I get a Go Pro for under $150, used or otherwise?

mattwnz

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#999898 6-Mar-2014 00:07

ahmad: Can I get a Go Pro for under $150, used or otherwise?

Looks to be quite a few on trademe. Never used a gopro myself, but thinking of getting one for some videoing.

clicknz

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#999938 6-Mar-2014 07:53

Hi - personally I think you'd right in looking for a s/h camcorder rather than a GoPro which is really suited to it's purpose ie. fixed mount action shot with a wide angle point of view.
The advantage of camcorders is that they usually have a good zoom range and are more ergonomic so you should get steadier footage.
As so many people are using smartphones for video now I would think you should be able to find a good camcorder for a reasonable (cheap) price. I'd suggest pretty much anything from Sony or Panasonic, as the main players, but there are probably good cameras from other manufacturers out there.
I'd suggest doing some quick research on whatever you find and look out for obscure video codecs that might not play nicely with iMovie.

Cheers,
Mike

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Niel

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#1000346 6-Mar-2014 19:43

Traditionally DV tape has been the best quality video but inconvenient as it often requires Firewire to download to PC in real time. It is MPEG2. MPEG4 has made great advances in quality and have some technical advantages like requiring a deblocking filter (in MPEG2 it is optional), but not good for post editing as you loose too much info through the compression (in theory, but I have not done it myself though, just what I was advised by a good friend).

Check out Canon, they have good cameras and often cheaper than Panasonic/Sony. We very seldom use ours now that the kids are older, wonder if I should sell it, very well looked after. I'll think about it, but let me know if you get stuck and want check mine out. I'm in East Auckland.

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mattwnz

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#1000352 6-Mar-2014 20:00

Niel: Traditionally DV tape has been the best quality video but inconvenient as it often requires Firewire to download to PC in real time. It is MPEG2. MPEG4 has made great advances in quality and have some technical advantages like requiring a deblocking filter (in MPEG2 it is optional), but not good for post editing as you loose too much info through the compression (in theory, but I have not done it myself though, just what I was advised by a good friend).

Check out Canon, they have good cameras and often cheaper than Panasonic/Sony. We very seldom use ours now that the kids are older, wonder if I should sell it, very well looked after. I'll think about it, but let me know if you get stuck and want check mine out. I'm in East Auckland.

But I don't think you are likely to get an HD camcorder in good working condition, for $150 even using DV tape. It does really depend what the OP is going to be videoing though as to the best choice. Some of the videoing I have seen from some relatively cheap devices is amazing. If a tripod is being used, and SLR maybe an option, and you can get good depth of fields. It is horses for courses. On the cheaper devices, the storage will be the limiting factor.

ahmad

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#1000401 6-Mar-2014 21:45

Seems I won't get HD for $100-150 - that's no big deal.

Will be predominantly used by a young person so I'm not really keen to be mucking around with DV tapes - I have a DV recorder and that serves my purpose great. This was more as a secondary cheap device that younger people can use and import easily into iMovie and cheap enough that I won't need to worry about them taking too much care with it.

If you have more details of yours Niel I might be interested but don't worry if you don't have time to dig those up.

ahmad

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#1000402 6-Mar-2014 21:56

How about those handheld "Flip" cameras or the Sony Bloggie?

I guess the pros are compactness but the cons are a poor lens? I guess it doesn't even have a zoom lens and no chance of any image stabiliser.

richms

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#1000409 6-Mar-2014 22:41

If you are getting locally check the fps.

I bought a Panasonic which was crippled into only having 50 and 25 hz modes. Same model in the states was 24/30/60.

50Hz looks awful when put into a 60hz project which if youtube is your target it should be. Particularly if you are going to drop game capture or a majority of stock footage into it. No reason to make 50Hz content at all now.

Richard rich.ms

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ahmad

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#1001112 8-Mar-2014 07:59

Ok so it seems the more I look into this, the more frustrated I get with stupid consumers and manufacturers racing to the bottom.

It seems that "FULL HD 1080" is a made up marketing term which in short means 1080i which in short means not good.

Basically I don't think there is a single affordable used camera that actually shoots 1080p - I'm not even sure that any of the big manufacturers released any into the NZ market at all, preferring to dupe people with this "FULL HD 1080" logo.

So what about something like a Canon Powershot SX series? They have super zooms, optical image stabilisers, and shoot 1080p video.

Are there any advantages in a specialised camcorder vs. a digital camera shooting video?

richms

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#1001178 8-Mar-2014 10:56

Better ergonomics to hold dedicated video cameras when shooting. The still camera form factor basically came about from necessity for having film in it and still has not really evolved. It is a prick to hold still for any length of time compared to a movie style one with a wrist strap etc.

There should be nothing doing actual interlaced 1080i except for old DV based ones. They may be 1080p at only 25 or 30 hz presented out the hdmi port as 1080i because that's the only mode to transfer those framerate.

Richard rich.ms

ahmad

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#1001206 8-Mar-2014 11:30

Read something that suggested all these "FULL HD 1080" cameras were all 1080i?

Niel

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#1001269 8-Mar-2014 14:05

So do you want HD or SD? I've misread the original post which refers to Secure Digital as opposed to Standard Definition. Proper HD is available but cost a fortune.

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