Vid cams recommendations

[bluehunter]

I am interested in buying a quality vid cam to record future fishing encounters as well as other traveling experiences too. Preferably want a digital one that is clear and with good voice clarity as well. Any recommendations. I have no knowledge of cam recorders and is in the beginning of my investigation stage now. Also what is the general price range of an affordable quality recorder?

[DarkShadow]

Bluehunter,

Here's a good start:

http://reviews.cnet.com/camcorder-bu...tColumnArea1.0

That'll help you eliminate what you don't need.

[BassEngineer]

You can buy a video camera for as little as $100, or as much as $20K. However, I would recommend an HD, which can be bought for around $500-$1000. You can get a decent one that is NOT HD for $300-$400.

I think one of the major things you will have to decide is the recording media. You can get a vid camera that records to Hard drive, Tape, or Disc. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages.

Other things to consider:
1- Will you be shooting a lot in low light?
2- How important are still pictures?
3- Optical Zoom?

I personally have a Sony HD vid camera that records to tape and takes 4 meg stills.

[bluehunter]

Thank you folks.

I definitely want a HD recorder and would like it to go to disk/hard drive instead of tape.

The budget range will be somewhere in to $600-700 category or less if I can find a good one for that.

I do plan to do some night time shooting in dark conditions like when I am on the river so something that can show well in those situation would be prefered.

[DarkShadow]

Here's two that match your needs:

http://www.abesofmaine.com/item.do?item=SNHDRSR11&l=CJ

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ls&Q=#features

[BassEngineer]

Here is one that is a little cheaper...although it is tape. I know the HV-20 (last years model) got stellar reviews. This is the new model, HV-30

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ult#ps-reviews

One of the reasons I like tape over a hard drive is if you are on a trip, the hard drive will probably limit you to about 4-8 hours of shooting...at that point, you will have to copy it to a computer some where. Whereas if you had tape, you could just pop in another tape. Also, hard drives break down much faster than tape drives.

FYI-- HD tapes average about $5 each

[bluehunter]

Thanks you for the leads. I will look into them.