PreseaLover Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Hi All, Needs some advice on buying a Camcoder. The purpose of it will be to shoot documentries, and recordings in the night under low light.... I don't have a higher budjet for this. However the quality needs to be good, I mean not 100% good, but good in a way to you know get a documentry done in good reasonable quality. However I don't have knowledge on the specs I should look at or the brands or anything related to camcoders. Could you experts advice me on the specs I should look at on a camcoder, and the cheap good ones I can get and the brands etc with the price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sierra Charlie Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Get a DSLR that can shoot video. You don't need a camcorder per se. Canon 70D is something we use for similar purposes along with a basic Steadicam when needed. Very decent output. We're not doing it professionally. So ask around for better insights. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matroska Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 On 11/3/2016 at 3:49 AM, PreseaLover said: Hi All, Needs some advice on buying a Camcoder. The purpose of it will be to shoot documentries, and recordings in the night under low light.... I don't have a higher budjet for this. However the quality needs to be good, I mean not 100% good, but good in a way to you know get a documentry done in good reasonable quality. However I don't have knowledge on the specs I should look at or the brands or anything related to camcoders. Could you experts advice me on the specs I should look at on a camcoder, and the cheap good ones I can get and the brands etc with the price? Expand On 11/3/2016 at 5:28 AM, Sierra Charlie said: Get a DSLR that can shoot video. You don't need a camcorder per se. Canon 70D is something we use for similar purposes along with a basic Steadicam when needed. Very decent output. We're not doing it professionally. So ask around for better insights. Expand As the man said. @PL if you are intending to do something on the likes of a youtube channel i think a DSLR would suffice. @Pericles would be a good person for reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 3, 2016 Author Share Posted November 3, 2016 On 11/3/2016 at 9:14 AM, matroska said: As the man said. @PL if you are intending to do something on the likes of a youtube channel i think a DSLR would suffice. @Pericles would be a good person for reference. Expand yep that's the idea matro... Investing on a DSLR right now is like a nightmare :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asrock Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 On 11/3/2016 at 11:17 AM, PreseaLover said: yep that's the idea matro... Investing on a DSLR right now is like a nightmare :/ Expand Whats your budget? and did Camera equipment get hit by the VAT increase? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 3, 2016 Author Share Posted November 3, 2016 On 11/3/2016 at 1:20 PM, asrock said: Whats your budget? and did Camera equipment get hit by the VAT increase? Expand I don't know if I have a budget, but I'm just trying to figure out how much of a budget should I have to invest on this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmeeg Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Initially I too shopped for Camcorders but in the end for my use I just started using my mobile, DSLR, webcam. For documentary purpose I think a DSLR with wide angle lens is a really good option. But I do not recommend using in-build mic. There are few cheap wired / wireless / shotgun mics you can use. And read few articles about not using auto gain for the mic. Also you might need to learn little bit about movie settings in DSLR to get a good quality video, but if you are in hurry just dial to AUTO and shoot. Also editing is really important right? I just use Windows Movie Maker for my simple useage. Try it and see if its enough for your work. Also with mistakes I've learnt that even with small adjustments of lighting can produce lot of improvements. Its simple as in a party at home switching on all the lights available inside the house so camera image sensor has less work. In my case I use few options recording get-togethers / sing-a-song sessions for Facebook / Youtube type of videos. 1. (Most used) - My mobile (Samsung Note 5) - -- Easy autofocus, Not bad for average indoor low light, Mic quality is good. Enhancements - Get a headphone and mic splitter (I bought it from ebay for few $s) where I give the Aux out from the sound mixer. It provides really good quality but you need to control the Aux gain carefully else its too much. 2. (2nd most used) - DSLR - Cheapest setup I use - Nikon D5100 with Tokina 11-16mm Next setup - Nikon D610 with Nikon 24-85mm (Good for low light) For both these options I use the Mic in option and give Aux out from Mixer. -- Fixed focus (unless u have someone to focus) , Provide very good video and audio quality. 3. (Not used much) - Logitech C920 Webcam -- Good autofocus capability, Mic audio is good, very good light control for average indoor low light KMeeg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavvz Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 (edited) PL you crack me up every-time! If you're shooting porno's in low light brother man, just get yourself a decent handycam. Its cheap, its got fast autofocus, a wideangle lens, good optical zoom, it has a slot / input for a shotgun mic's (depending on the model you might not even need a shotgun mic as most have good sound pickup) and the new models shot in HD and store on inbuilt hard drives. Its what all the the producers jumping actresses on those shady audition porno's use, just go with it. It's the tried and tested option PreseaLover. How do I know all this? Well... Edited November 3, 2016 by Kavvz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 (edited) On 11/3/2016 at 9:47 PM, Kavvz said: PL you crack me up every-time! If you're shooting porno's in low light brother man, just get yourself a decent handycam. Its cheap, its got fast autofocus, a wideangle lens, good optical zoom, it has a slot / input for a shotgun mic's (depending on the model you might not even need a shotgun mic as most have good sound pickup) and the new models shot in HD and store on inbuilt hard drives. Its what all the the producers jumping actresses on those shady audition porno's use, just go with it. It's the tried and tested option PreseaLover. How do I know all this? Well... Expand Are you a porn director? wahahahahaha seems like so On 11/3/2016 at 6:58 PM, kmeeg said: Initially I too shopped for Camcorders but in the end for my use I just started using my mobile, DSLR, webcam. For documentary purpose I think a DSLR with wide angle lens is a really good option. But I do not recommend using in-build mic. There are few cheap wired / wireless / shotgun mics you can use. And read few articles about not using auto gain for the mic. Also you might need to learn little bit about movie settings in DSLR to get a good quality video, but if you are in hurry just dial to AUTO and shoot. Also editing is really important right? I just use Windows Movie Maker for my simple useage. Try it and see if its enough for your work. Also with mistakes I've learnt that even with small adjustments of lighting can produce lot of improvements. Its simple as in a party at home switching on all the lights available inside the house so camera image sensor has less work. In my case I use few options recording get-togethers / sing-a-song sessions for Facebook / Youtube type of videos. 1. (Most used) - My mobile (Samsung Note 5) - -- Easy autofocus, Not bad for average indoor low light, Mic quality is good. Enhancements - Get a headphone and mic splitter (I bought it from ebay for few $s) where I give the Aux out from the sound mixer. It provides really good quality but you need to control the Aux gain carefully else its too much. 2. (2nd most used) - DSLR - Cheapest setup I use - Nikon D5100 with Tokina 11-16mm Next setup - Nikon D610 with Nikon 24-85mm (Good for low light) For both these options I use the Mic in option and give Aux out from Mixer. -- Fixed focus (unless u have someone to focus) , Provide very good video and audio quality. 3. (Not used much) - Logitech C920 Webcam -- Good autofocus capability, Mic audio is good, very good light control for average indoor low light KMeeg. Expand Thanks for the elaborated information machan... I will take all these points into mind... Well the editing part is done by my friend, and the script writing and directing and interviewing part I will be handling myself... So I will convey these points to him... I Always wanted to write movie, documentry scripts so yeah anyway he is doing the editing part via a paid and downloaded software called Wondershare Filmora... I can show you a sample video editing we did for Stigmata for their upcoming events, we released this video yesterday.. but the video recording was done by a phone cam, hence the low quality but the video editing part was really good incorporating many clips and stuff let me know what you think, here you can check the video from here--> Edited November 4, 2016 by PreseaLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavvz Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 (edited) On 11/4/2016 at 3:16 AM, PreseaLover said: Are you a porn director? wahahahahaha seems like so Expand lol !! @ above. But all jokes aside: Get yourself a small handycam like the one in my link above, and for about Rs 30k you'll have everything you need to make decent videos. Edited November 4, 2016 by Kavvz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 5, 2016 Author Share Posted November 5, 2016 On 11/4/2016 at 5:25 PM, Kavvz said: lol !! @ above. But all jokes aside: Get yourself a small handycam like the one in my link above, and for about Rs 30k you'll have everything you need to make decent videos. Expand well instead of buying a cam (since im on a tight financial situation), I recruited one of my best friends who has a DSLR into my team, so problem solved 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 23, 2016 Author Share Posted November 23, 2016 Hi guys, I had to resort myself to buying a cam again... since I don't have a higher budget I checked few camcoders... and found a brand new "Toshiba Camileo X400 camcorder" in the quick site for 18k... can the experts tell me whether this camcorder will fit my requirement?... the seller told me he purchased a 4gb memory card and an extra battery as well for this and he will give me that too.. is this reasonable for this price? he said he bought it from UK for 28k hence last price is 18k... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pericles Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 On 11/3/2016 at 11:17 AM, PreseaLover said: yep that's the idea matro... Investing on a DSLR right now is like a nightmare :/ Expand Sorry dude, had some trouble with the forum recently so haven't been on. Pages not rendering properly. Also, video is not my area at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pericles Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Or check out options like the Sony A6000 series. Just look for two things. One, accessories. What kinda mikes, lights, other stuff you can plug in. Basically modularity. Two, connectivity. Things like this wifi that they show on this video can have a lot of impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 24, 2016 Author Share Posted November 24, 2016 On 11/24/2016 at 5:28 AM, Pericles said: Or check out options like the Sony A6000 series. Just look for two things. One, accessories. What kinda mikes, lights, other stuff you can plug in. Basically modularity. Two, connectivity. Things like this wifi that they show on this video can have a lot of impact. Expand Those are sadly out of the budget.. my max budjet is 20k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavvz Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 (edited) On 11/23/2016 at 6:28 AM, PreseaLover said: Hi guys, I had to resort myself to buying a cam again... since I don't have a higher budget I checked few camcoders... and found a brand new "Toshiba Camileo X400 camcorder" in the quick site for 18k... can the experts tell me whether this camcorder will fit my requirement?... the seller told me he purchased a 4gb memory card and an extra battery as well for this and he will give me that too.. is this reasonable for this price? he said he bought it from UK for 28k hence last price is 18k... Expand On 11/24/2016 at 2:29 PM, PreseaLover said: Those are sadly out of the budget.. my max budjet is 20k Expand I have no personal experience with it, but reviews indicate that it plays in the lower end of the quality spectrum. Also this paticular model maybe a discontinued model as its unavailable new off my favourite camera equipment site). My belief is that there are better models out there in that price range (case in point: Canon VIXIA HF R700 ) But then again- Why not save your self a packet and keep shooting off a cellphone till the site starts generating money? Edited November 25, 2016 by Kavvz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 25, 2016 Author Share Posted November 25, 2016 On 11/24/2016 at 7:37 PM, Kavvz said: I have no personal experience with it, but reviews indicate that it plays in the lower end of the quality spectrum. Also this paticular model maybe a discontinued model as its unavailable new off my favourite camera equipment site). My belief is that there are better models out there in that price range (case in point: Canon VIXIA HF R700 ) But then again- Why not save your self a packet and keep shooting off a cellphone till the site starts generating money? Expand the phone quality is no issue... but it doesnt look professional when recording via the phone, I mean artists expression changes when i take out the phone to record, as they are expecting a high end recorder and full professionalism...noticed a few days and thats why thought of the camcorder... you know what I mean noh.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavvz Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 (edited) On 11/25/2016 at 12:18 AM, PreseaLover said: the phone quality is no issue... but it doesnt look professional when recording via the phone, I mean artists expression changes when i take out the phone to record, as they are expecting a high end recorder and full professionalism...noticed a few days and thats why thought of the camcorder... you know what I mean noh.. Expand Ah yes, appearances, appearances, the whole of Colombo is obsessed with appearances! K Well then, what can one do but pay-up and play along... go grab yourself a camcorder! For 20k you can certainly grab something half decent, and you might be able to get something used for cheaper- Which is certainly what I would do. Edited November 25, 2016 by Kavvz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 25, 2016 Author Share Posted November 25, 2016 Guys what do you think about this model? My main requirements are reasonable sound and video quality and fairly better quality in the night than a phone cam... http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/review/sony/hdr-xr520/306244/specs/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavvz Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 On 11/25/2016 at 2:47 AM, PreseaLover said: Guys what do you think about this model? My main requirements are reasonable sound and video quality and fairly better quality in the night than a phone cam... http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/review/sony/hdr-xr520/306244/specs/ Expand You're joking right? You only said you had 20k! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 25, 2016 Author Share Posted November 25, 2016 (edited) On 11/25/2016 at 4:58 AM, Kavvz said: You're joking right? You only said you had 20k! Expand This was there in Dakas for 12k :S http://www.daraz.lk/sony-hd-video-camera-2005373.html Edited November 25, 2016 by PreseaLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavvz Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 (edited) On 11/25/2016 at 6:56 AM, PreseaLover said: This was there in Dakas for 12k :S http://www.daraz.lk/sony-hd-video-camera-2005373.html Expand huh? That's a pretty decent price, weird that it should be so low? Edit: the reviews on the camcorder are quite good. And even though its an older discontinued model I would think its a good buy. BUT the price is pretty low? You sure this is for real? Even on ebay its selling for around US$400-US$500. So Rs 12k is a super good price I guess? Edited November 26, 2016 by Kavvz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreseaLover Posted November 26, 2016 Author Share Posted November 26, 2016 On 11/26/2016 at 12:04 AM, Kavvz said: huh? That's a pretty decent price, weird that it should be so low? Edit: the reviews on the camcorder are quite good. And even though its an older discontinued model I would think its a good buy. BUT the price is pretty low? You sure this is for real? Even on ebay its selling for around US$400-US$500. So Rs 12k is a super good price I guess? Expand fishy noh...:/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 If you are settling for a DSLR, Nikon cams do not shoot good videos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavvz Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 (edited) On 11/26/2016 at 2:46 AM, PreseaLover said: fishy noh...:/ Expand But then again it'd be a stellar deal at that price. As the site has a 3 day return policy, perhaps its worth while to just buy it and get it looked over by a service outlet within the return period to see if its legit etc? Update us on your findings if you do end up doing that, I'm genuinely curious as to why it would sell at such a steep discount over its current market price Edited November 27, 2016 by Kavvz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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