Topic: I need a video camera. $300 budget

[tigerstouch]

Hey, thanks for reading this.
I don't know anything about video cameras so I thought this would be the best place to ask. I'm looking for a nice decent camcorder for under $300. Mostly for recording concerts but probably other stuff too. Links and opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[beefstew]

www.camcorderinfo.com

for that budget, check out the Cannon ZR-500

[hummat]

I'd look around and see if you can;t get one of those Panasonic 3 CCD cameras near that price.

[Josh P]

look no further, http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Handycam-DCR-PC100_W0QQitemZ120109345586QQihZ002QQcategoryZ20333QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[firmdragon]

IMO at 300 its better to wait and save up.

[Josh P]

look no further, http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Handycam-DCR-PC100_W0QQitemZ120109345586QQihZ002QQcategoryZ20333QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Still at $222 with 14 hours left.  This was THE stealth camera used by the phish video tapers back in the day.  Superb low light response.  Manual exposure is done by a wheel on the outside.  You'll learn that is a key feature.  Its a pain having to go through a touch screen each time you want to adjust exposure.  It also has a headphone jack so you can watch/listen on the plane flight home from a show   Its not quite as small as some of the newer cams but its twice the picture.

Looks like the guy has kept good care of it.  I'd snatch it up if I wasn't loaded down with cams already   

[guitard]

look no further, http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Handycam-DCR-PC100_W0QQitemZ120109345586QQihZ002QQcategoryZ20333QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Although not mentioned in the auction (at least, I didn't see it), it only has 10X optical zoom.  I prefer more for concert filming, and it's even more important if you're doing stealth shots.

[Josh P]

look no further, http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Handycam-DCR-PC100_W0QQitemZ120109345586QQihZ002QQcategoryZ20333QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Although not mentioned in the auction (at least, I didn't see it), it only has 10X optical zoom.  I prefer more for concert filming, and it's even more important if you're doing stealth shots.

you mean its more important if you're shooting far away, nothing really to do with if you're stealthing or not.  10x is just about right most of the time for me.  Or buy a doubler!

Wilson if you're reading this, throw up some screen shots of the 10x pc100 and the 20x hc21.

[guitard]

look no further, http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Handycam-DCR-PC100_W0QQitemZ120109345586QQihZ002QQcategoryZ20333QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Although not mentioned in the auction (at least, I didn't see it), it only has 10X optical zoom.  I prefer more for concert filming, and it's even more important if you're doing stealth shots.

you mean its more important if you're shooting far away, nothing really to do with if you're stealthing or not.

Of course, there are exceptions, but as a very general rule, the closer you are to the stage, the harder it is to stealth film.  So stealth films are usually shot from further away.

[askins46]

Hey, thanks for reading this.
I don't know anything about video cameras so I thought this would be the best place to ask. I'm looking for a nice decent camcorder for under $300. Mostly for recording concerts but probably other stuff too. Links and opinions would be greatly appreciated.

You can check the different merchants selling a particular product at this site, (http://www.smartratings.com/photography/camcorders). Also, you may want to scan through the reviews - expert and user - associated with every product. Hope this helps.

[stevetoney]

look no further, http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Handycam-DCR-PC100_W0QQitemZ120109345586QQihZ002QQcategoryZ20333QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Although not mentioned in the auction (at least, I didn't see it), it only has 10X optical zoom.  I prefer more for concert filming, and it's even more important if you're doing stealth shots.

you mean its more important if you're shooting far away, nothing really to do with if you're stealthing or not.

Of course, there are exceptions, but as a very general rule, the closer you are to the stage, the harder it is to stealth film.  So stealth films are usually shot from further away.

Hands down, the PC100 is the camera for live concert video taping because of the quality of the digital zoom.  Read on.

I've had both the PC100 and the Canon ZR500 and the Sony is a WAAAAY better camera than the Canon.  First off, with the Zeiss optics, the image quality on the Sony simply can't be beat.  The images are really sharp, really saturated colors.  There is simply no comparison between the two because the Sony is just so much more of a vibrant image.  After owning both, I'd buy the Sony 100 times used over again before buying the Canon new. 

The Canon is a good camera, but the Sony is a GREAT camera.

Also, don't be put off by the 10X zoom.  The thing about the Sony is that the digital zoom on the Sony camera is NOT like the digital zoom on most other cameras.  This zoom maintains clarity and image quality way way WAAAAY into the digital range.  In fact, the digital zoom on the Sony goes to 100x and image quality is still quite high at extremely high zoom ranges.  For example, I recently filmed Panic and was back far enough so that the stage took about 1/2 of the image.  I could zoom in and focus sharply on JBs guitar taking up the entire image without pixelation and with still quite a sharp image.  On the Canon and most other camera, I never even used the digital zoom because it immediately begins pixelating in the digital zoom zone.  This does not happen on the Sony.

For a sample of the high quality results you can expect from this camera, there are two shows on Traders Den from last summer that were filmed at Point State Park in Pittsburgh.  Download either of those and see for yourself.  Just like me, you'll immediately be sold, I guarantee.  One show was moe. and the other was Soulive.

[t34mbtp]

i like the sony dcr pc 100 ebay has em pretty often and reliable as hell and a great camera to learn the ropes with..