Camcorder advice needed

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08-02-2010, 01:08 PM
swede

Camcorder advice needed

So, I'm in my third day of searching for a new camcorder and I have some questions that have stumped Stu at Best Buy and Jordan at Wal-Mart.

Price range: $200-$400

I'm leaning toward a camcorder with flash memory, Jordan and Stu seem to agree on this point.

I will need to edit, and this is where my problems begin. Camcorders seem to record in a variety of formats for both video AND audio. Uploading for editing purposes is often dicey or frustrating for many customers, and, apparently, in some cases where the uploading is easier the camera itself is not much good.

I am willing to spend $75-$100 on a video editing program. Will some of these programs convert almost any video/audio file anyway? Please recommend favorite video editing software if you have any.

Thank you in advance, you diseased vermin.
08-02-2010, 02:15 PM
SkinBasket

You are so fucked.

I like whatever $300 Sony DCR HDD camcorder I have. It's not 1080p, but I'm not going to burn to 1080p, so I'm not going to record to it. It allows for flash insertion and records in night vision. Ahem.

Anyway, the problem I've always had is on the editing side. I've legally and illegally tried a wide range of products, from the glossy "you can't fuck this up" $100 software to the rip-off ware that someone's trying to get $20 for but someone just hacks anyway. In the end, they're all a pain in the ass. They all crash. They all take forever to encode your shit. And they'll all run into a codec or format that they just refuse to process.

I ended up buying Corel's video suit for $70, and I guess it does just as shitty of a job as any other. It looks like you have all kinds of options, but I can't get most of them to work and trying to make a simple video disc becomes a 15 minute trudge through completely unnecessary menus, options and fucked up defaults that you don't want. The documentation sucks bum cock and the interface blindfolds you, fills your mouth with honey, gags you, then cue socks you in the balls and drops you out of the van in the middle of jungle at night. But it converted more video formats with better success than the others I tried, so I guess that's just the price I pay.

Good luck finding something better.
08-02-2010, 04:58 PM
Freak Out

I borrowed a Panasonic HDC-HS60 from a friend of mine and loved it so much I'm buying one. It's a little more than you want to spend though ($430).

http://panasonic.net/avc/camcorder/h.../feature3.html

I used the Panasonic software it came with and it worked fine for my limited skills....my wife used her Mac stuff (imovie?) and thought it was great.
08-02-2010, 05:58 PM
twoseven

problem solved :lol:

[img]http://api.ning.com/files/6WyXqjrD0eRo9U6ycy*4zer9Lvi3NfOKFN0vcwv5CW3SgArpXD-icxM9tyRcbe4lpEd4CDSymn4dlk7bd8rvd41VXsfAspHj/old_film_camera.jpg[/img]
08-02-2010, 06:01 PM
MJZiggy

About an hour ago, I bought a camcorder for work. Where were you guys with this discussion last week?
08-02-2010, 06:06 PM
retailguy

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJZiggy

About an hour ago, I bought a camcorder for work. Where were you guys with this discussion last week?

twoseven's camcorder was available last week.
08-02-2010, 07:01 PM
swede

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freak Out

I borrowed a Panasonic HDC-HS60 from a friend of mine and loved it so much I'm buying one. It's a little more than you want to spend though ($430).

http://panasonic.net/avc/camcorder/h.../feature3.html

I used the Panasonic software it came with and it worked fine for my limited skills....my wife used her Mac stuff (imovie?) and thought it was great.

That model came up tops in one of my searches for best value. I'm thinking about it.

lol at Skin's tirade.

The last time I spent the family's Xmas $ on technology I got a VCR/DVR to transfer twenty year old tape that is gradually erasing itself before crumbling like mummy cloth. It doesn't work the way you'd like it to work. I can't do the least bit of rudimentary editing (so we're stuck with the 19 minutes I had the camcorder recording in the blackness of the camera bag before I took it out again) and the DVDs ONLY PLAY IN THE SAME GODDAM MACHINE THEY WERE BURNT IN!
08-02-2010, 07:07 PM
swede

Next question...should I be suspicious when Amazon directs me to a site selling a $500 Panasonic for $387 ? I haven't checked shipping costs, yet, but I've cancelled any number of online transactions when they tried to job me on the shipping.

The funniest online purchasing odyssey for me was buying some Bapes for my son back when he was a cute little Cracka Gangsta. We found a Chinese site with hilarious translations. "Place you live number?" and "Place you live street?" The shoes came six weeks later wrapped in the craziest damn packaging and they were awesome knockoffs of Spiderman Bapes.
08-03-2010, 06:57 AM
twoseven

Quote:

Originally Posted by swede

Next question...should I be suspicious when Amazon directs me to a site selling a $500 Panasonic for $387 ? I haven't checked shipping costs, yet, but I've cancelled any number of online transactions when they tried to job me on the shipping.

The funniest online purchasing odyssey for me was buying some Bapes for my son back when he was a cute little Cracka Gangsta. We found a Chinese site with hilarious translations. "Place you live number?" and "Place you live street?" The shoes came six weeks later wrapped in the craziest damn packaging and they were awesome knockoffs of Spiderman Bapes.

I pruchase as much or more from Amazon than most you'll meet. No, you should not be surprised to see normal prices reduced by a large amount. I am used to seeing 30-50% off shelf prices for some of the things i regularily buy. Figuring shipping is no more than running the process through up until the point of transaction to see the charge. Even if you aren't going to buy through them, they still offer maybe the most trustworthy and comprehensive groups of reviews i have ever seen. even when i know i am getting something from a store i will still use their site to review what i think i want as many people are good about giving a candid opinion of the products.
08-03-2010, 11:48 AM
Freak Out

Quote:

Originally Posted by twoseven

Quote:

Originally Posted by swede

Next question...should I be suspicious when Amazon directs me to a site selling a $500 Panasonic for $387 ? I haven't checked shipping costs, yet, but I've cancelled any number of online transactions when they tried to job me on the shipping.

The funniest online purchasing odyssey for me was buying some Bapes for my son back when he was a cute little Cracka Gangsta. We found a Chinese site with hilarious translations. "Place you live number?" and "Place you live street?" The shoes came six weeks later wrapped in the craziest damn packaging and they were awesome knockoffs of Spiderman Bapes.

I pruchase as much or more from Amazon than most you'll meet. No, you should not be surprised to see normal prices reduced by a large amount. I am used to seeing 30-50% off shelf prices for some of the things i regularily buy. Figuring shipping is no more than running the process through up until the point of transaction to see the charge. Even if you aren't going to buy through them, they still offer maybe the most trustworthy and comprehensive groups of reviews i have ever seen. even when i know i am getting something from a store i will still use their site to review what i think i want as many people are good about giving a candid opinion of the products.

I buy loads of stuff from Amazon because of the free sipping to Alaska. The prices are a little higher to start but factor in the cost all the other sites charge for shipping to Alaska and it's usually a much better deal.
08-03-2010, 12:01 PM
twoseven

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freak Out

Quote:

Originally Posted by twoseven

Quote:

Originally Posted by swede

Next question...should I be suspicious when Amazon directs me to a site selling a $500 Panasonic for $387 ? I haven't checked shipping costs, yet, but I've cancelled any number of online transactions when they tried to job me on the shipping.

The funniest online purchasing odyssey for me was buying some Bapes for my son back when he was a cute little Cracka Gangsta. We found a Chinese site with hilarious translations. "Place you live number?" and "Place you live street?" The shoes came six weeks later wrapped in the craziest damn packaging and they were awesome knockoffs of Spiderman Bapes.

I pruchase as much or more from Amazon than most you'll meet. No, you should not be surprised to see normal prices reduced by a large amount. I am used to seeing 30-50% off shelf prices for some of the things i regularily buy. Figuring shipping is no more than running the process through up until the point of transaction to see the charge. Even if you aren't going to buy through them, they still offer maybe the most trustworthy and comprehensive groups of reviews i have ever seen. even when i know i am getting something from a store i will still use their site to review what i think i want as many people are good about giving a candid opinion of the products.

I buy loads of stuff from Amazon because of the free sipping to Alaska. The prices are a little higher to start but factor in the cost all the other sites charge for shipping to Alaska and it's usually a much better deal.

i just switched to an Amazon Visa card as well. triple points on every amazon buy, double on gas and travel, one point for every other purchase anywhere. much better rewards than i have seen on some other cards and kicks the shit out the card i have been using for the last 10 years. wish i would have done this sooner.