JoelSturman Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 I spent 6 months researching and comparing cameras on several sites, consumer reports, Cnet, several video review sites, and you can find a lot on youtube. I concur with the opinion of moving away from tapes. The industry is moving away and there is not much need anymore. I worried about drive failure and went the SDD. I stayed away from Sony because their memory sticks are more expensive and their proprietary stance in the industry aggravates me. I went with the Canon HF10, and I am VERY VERY happy with it. I used none of the manual settings when recording my halloween show at night. It went out of focus once, corrected itself - and I actually liked the effect so I left it in the video. See my other posts for links to the youtube videos. I used pricegrabber a lot to compare prices, but in the end I found the best price at Costco, and it came with a bag. My recommendation with this camera is get the extended battery. I don't even use the original battery any more. I also got a 16 gig card (I comes with 16GB built in). I now get lazy and don't clean off the camera or charge the battery for months (of occasional use) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmadak Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Thanks Joel for the info on the Canon hf10. I was concerned about the camera going out of focus on automatic settings during our type of light show. I am interested in the Canon hf s10. Waiting for the price to come down a little more. I have seen video on youtube and other video places of night time shots, but most of those don't have the high rate of "blinking" lights that we use in our displays. Did you use a tripod or any other type of stablization?Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigh Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I have been looking at the Canon Vixia HF models. If you need to see some videos recorded with this camera check out Jeff Ostroff's videos, they have great clarity and picture quality, they were shot with the Canon Vixia HF10, he used Sony Vegas Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack for editing. I emailed him last year to talk about what settings he used, he indicated that he used all default settings except he set the camera to manual focus.Here is the link to his website: http://www.lauderdalechristmas.com/scroll down to see them.I paid a professional to video my show last year, he had a Sony camera (professional model but don't remember which one), and the year before that the guy had a JVC (also a professional model). I didn't really like the overall quality of the videos from the Sony camera, seemed to have some "blooming" around the lights. The guy last year did a great job on the finished product - editing out cars that drove by, adding titles, blending of shots from one different angles and so on.Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmadak Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Hi Craig,Would you be willing to share the manual settings that you use for the hf10? I thinking of getting the hf s10 before Christmas and would like to know how to set it for our types of displays at night. I won't have much time to "practice" with it before hand.Thanks in advanceTom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigh Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 tmadak wrote: Hi Craig,Would you be willing to share the manual settings that you use for the hf10? I thinking of getting the hf s10 before Christmas and would like to know how to set it for our types of displays at night. I won't have much time to "practice" with it before hand.Thanks in advanceTomTom - I hope I didn't mislead you it was Jeff who has the HF10 Camera, not me. I was just passing on what he shared with me.He said the only manual setting he used was a Manual Focus, everything else was set at the default settings for low light shooting at night.You could send him a PM on PlanetChristmas to get more info, he is a very helpful guy. (jeffostroff on PlanetChristmas)Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmadak Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Craig,Thanks for the info. I'll give that a try.Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigh Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Here is the link to thread on planetchristmas where Jeff talks about his canon hf10 camera, on page 3 he explains the settings he used to record his show.http://cr.planetchristmas.com/showthread.php?t=29203Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmadak Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Thanks Craig,Jeff has done some really great videos.Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsea300 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 I just ordered a Cannon Hf-S100 deluxe kit from Amazon 1200.00. It has telephoto and wide angle lenses,8gb card, extra large battery charger,2 tripods,cleaning stuff and lcd lens protection, and a case. Can't wait to try it out. I will ost after I shoot something with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friskybri Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Im going to purchase a HD camcorder in the next week. Any thoughts on these models.1. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Canon+-+VIXIA+6.01MP+High-Definition+Digital+Camcorder+-+Black/9239521.p?id=1218065984222&skuId=92395212. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+4.15MP+Handycam+High-Definition+Camcorder+w/120GB+Hard+Drive+and+3.2%22+LCD+Screen+-+Black/9178418.p?id=1218046368353&skuId=91784183. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Panasonic+-+11MP+High-Definition+Camcorder+w/32GB+Hard+Drive+and+2.7%22+Widescreen+LCD+Monitor+-+Black/9393863.p?id=1218097980212&skuId=9393863Let me know what you think. Decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwaldrep Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 If you are planning on buying anything in the next week, look at Black Friday deals. I bought our HD canon HF10 camcorder last year from Best Buy on Black Friday, and got a real good deal, so look at ads that are already online for those deals.Looking at the 3 you listed, the first one (Canon) is a flash based, where as the other 2 are Hard drive based.What I did, when I was shopping was figure out the media (Tape, Flash, Hard drive, etc) I wanted, and then focused on the different models using that media.There is always a good debate on tape verse digital (Flash or Hard drive), and in the end you need to choose. There are pros, and cons to both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friskybri Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I work there part time just for the discount. I plan on buying it before black friday. How does the video look for the canon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friskybri Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I work there part time just for the discount. I plan on buying it before black friday. How does the video look for the canon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigh Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 friskybri,my vote would be for the Canon.Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 The HFS 10 is sweet camcorder and can be had online (Amazon and B&H) for 999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank A. Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Good morningIf you plan on downloading to a computer in hdmake the seller prove that it can be accomplishedmy canon hv30 will not allow capturing in hdwill capture hd video at standard onlyif recorded in standard will not capture at allthat was on two computers one xp and one vista -- windows movie makergood camera does well video wise - playback to hd tv is great and easyA local camera shop does not even have equipment to get hd off of tapehv30 is tape based -- last Christmas when I bought, the hard drive camera unitswere having download problems according http://www.hv20.com/ forumIn one year I have twenty minutes of videoNot one of my more intelligent aquisitions -- how many controllers/lights is thatFrank A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Windows Movie Maker does not support AVCDH. You will need an editor that supports it or, in the alternative, software that will convert to mpeg.To anyone interested in upgrading to HD video, be advised that you need a computer with a fair amount of horsepower if you plan on editing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friskybri Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 OK what about this camcorder. anyone have insight on this one.http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?partNumber=HDRXR520V&catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1#specifications Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts