Just wondering if anyone knew of a good camcorder for under 300$. I don't need HD just good video and pictures and hopefully the most optical zoom I can get for the buck. I would also prefer some form of expandable media and no software needed but good video in the dark is not expected for this price but I would prefer it. I saw a list of budget camcorders on Cnet and can refer to that if necessary but I'm kind of broke right now.

11/24/2009 6:15:19 PM

Good low light and cheap, go for a low-end Canon. Not sure on lineup that's not HD, but they tend to have really good low light capabilities and are cheaper than Sonys(which also have great low light abilities)

11/24/2009 11:21:25 PM

The Canon FS200 looks pretty nice to me, any thoughts on that product?

The Samsung SMX-F34 provides 3lux illumination instead of 1.3 for the Canon and has twice as much flash memory but has 34X Optical Zoom as opposed to 37 on the Canon, any thoughts on the Samsung?

Well just found out Samsung can only take 800 X 600 photos while Canon is 1024 X 768.

[Edited on November 25, 2009 at 12:36 AM. Reason : good recommendation]

11/25/2009 12:25:00 AM

Also, what do you think of pocket camcorders? They seem to record in HD and have plenty of room and are 100$ cheaper.

Do you know what kind of battery life I'd get out of the FS200 or Kodak Zi8?

11/25/2009 1:30:07 AM

After watching a lot of youtube quality tests it seems like optical image stabilizing is a must and most camcorders under 300$ suck in dark light but I don't even know when I'd want to record in dark light. Not sure what point I was trying to make with illumination, that number may be the sensitivity or the inverse of sensitivity as far as I know.

11/25/2009 2:12:04 AM

why not just get a flip?

11/25/2009 8:07:14 AM

I don't know, after watching the Iphone 3GS test quality I'm just really confused. Why would these pocket camcorders be cheaper then budget camcorders if they have better video quality? Maybe its the optical zoom and image stabilizer but I have no idea.

Also it looks like the Kodak Zi8 is better than the flip.

[Edited on November 25, 2009 at 11:42 AM. Reason : more]

11/25/2009 11:41:25 AM

the kodak zi8 looks pretty good. it got much better reviews than any of the flip models on several different sites + g4. plus it uses AA batteries, so if you're out and you can't charge it (camping or something), you can just put new batteries in. full 1080p hd and very good low light/night quality when compared to other cameras in the same category.

11/25/2009 3:35:29 PM

I watched a ton of youtube reviews and a lot of that doesn't seems right but maybe they left a lot out.

I just had a few questions about features which I've heard about on the Zi8 and how they compare to Camcorders or Digital Cameras under 250$.

Low Light = Zi8 is not good (maybe in its price class it is but not overall)

Wide angle Lens = Zi8 doesn't have one, does this really matter?

Stereo mic = Zi8 has external mic port I won't use so will the lack of a stereo mic matter a lot?

60fps = Zi8 has this for 720p, will it make a difference taping football games at a distance?

90 min battery life = Zi8 has this but replacement batteries are cheap on amazon (is this low?).

Macro mode = Zi8 has this, is this something most others don't have (can focus up to 4-5 inches away)

Flash = Zi8's 5MP camera doesn't have this and I want it as a camera as much as a camcorder so will it make my pictures a lot worse?

I just want to know if these features are common under 250$ or even if better versions of these features are available under 250$.

I think the main disadvantage of the Zi8 is lack of flash ( I haven't heard of it ) and lack of optical zoom and good image stabilizer. Do you think I can find any high end cameras that have these as well as the Zi8's features? I'm not too interested in a large camcorder but just wanted to compare because I'd rather have something compact I can carry around.

12/6/2009 9:04:34 PM

Well its been 30 minutes...

My main concern is the flash

How much light will I need to take decent pictures without a flash?

When I mean decent I mean they will show up visible and crisp on a standard 35mm picture size.

12/6/2009 9:53:47 PM

I heard this was a great camcorder... meets all of your needs...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3oqiv_sears-camcorder-outfit-1988_shortfilms

[Edited on December 6, 2009 at 9:59 PM. Reason : .]

12/6/2009 9:58:46 PM

Not very portable and I have an old shitty Sony that is better.

Anyone know if there are any pocket cams with flash or any digital cameras under 200$ that do good videos?

12/6/2009 10:20:09 PM

Well I found a digital camera that is very good.

CASIO EXILIM EX-S12

I'm doing research now but any help would help.

12/6/2009 11:51:02 PM

FUCK

I finally find out the Casio only does 10 minute clips after thinking it was "the one".

12/7/2009 1:21:42 AM

are you really gonna do clips longer than 10 minutes? that's a lot of recording for a straight through clip

12/7/2009 8:51:07 AM

Homemade porn always looks terrible, especially in HD.

12/7/2009 10:14:29 AM

OMG, DO NOT DO HOMEMADE PORN IN HD. DO NOT.

12/7/2009 10:27:59 AM

I would be taping sports so clips wouldn't be too bad.

I'm down to the exilim s12 and powershot sd780. I believe the canon can use optical zoom for videos while the Casio's can not but I have to go to Best Buy to be sure but the Casio is amazingly thin at .54".

I'll probably wait until early February anyways so maybe everything changes by then.

12/7/2009 5:35:23 PM

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=583055

12/8/2009 1:57:45 PM

^^i know the canon's can use the optical zoom, however, you can't change it after you start. or atleast you couldn't on the earlier models. i think you can zoom in digitally but the optical part is locked after you start recording

may be different now..but something to consider

[Edited on December 8, 2009 at 2:31 PM. Reason : d'oh]

12/8/2009 2:31:24 PM

Just in case anyone is keeping track of this thread for their own use, I went to Best Buy and they said the digital cameras only get about half an hour of battery life for videos.

This is horrible compared to the Zi8's 1.5 hours.
Batteries are cheap for both but I guess it would be annoying to keep switching them out.

12/8/2009 5:17:35 PM

Does anyone know if any new pocket camcorders are set to come out soon?
Anybody think they'll add a flash or is that too cost effective since they are mainly used for video recording?

12/16/2009 1:01:57 AM