Image by Chung Chu
Which High Def tough drive camcorder would you suggest?
Im looking for a High Definition Difficult Drive camcorder with the following…

- 25x optical zoom
- mounts to attach lights and a thread size to attach lens
- image stabilizer *plus nevertheless photo
-good lux to see at evening

and I want it to have a viewfinder.

*I’ve been noticing that most HDD camcorders are nothing but common Definition with the old CCD top quality. No thread size or mounts or very good night shot.

But please which would you advocate?

Answer by Little Dog
Um… none.

The essential is your specifications checklist.

In my opinion, your stated “great lux to see at night” has two definitions:

1) Camcorder has a built-in infrared emitter for monochrome video capture in zero or close to-zero visible light. This limits you to the Sony camcorders with “NightShot” in their characteristic list. In the client location, this incorporates the HDR-CX500 series, HDR-XR500 series and HDR-HC9. The HVR-A1 (the pro-sibling to the discontinued HDR-HC1) has NightShot mode, too. None of these has 25x optical zoom. The HVR A1 and HDR HC9 (I believe) are the only with a LCD panel and viewfinder. All have threads for lens filter and add-on lens mounting (and can get close to 25x zoom with an add-on lens). There’s a new Sony prosumer coming out that looks promising – an updated HDR-HC1 with interchangeable lenses and AVCHD compression – but nevertheless not internal HDD.

two) Reduced light color video capture without having an infrared emitter (or other external light supply) implies massive lenses an huge imaging chips. This puts you in the realm of prosumer or pro-grade camcorders – and none have internal tough disc drives – simply because their acknowledged limitations are one thing these folks just don’t want to deal with. If totally essential, an external storage gadget can be employed. Normally, a Focus Enhancements FireStore series device is linked via firewire to the camcorder’s DV port. Sony also has external flash memory and difficult disc drive devices for DV-equipped camcorders (in their HVR, HDCAM and XDCAM line up). Typically speaking, DV-port equipped camcorders use miniDV tape for internal storage – although not always. The short list contains (but is not restricted to):
Sony HDR-FX1000 HVR Z5
Panasonic AG-HVX200
Canon XHA1, XLH series XF series
JVC GY-HM100
These pro and prosumer models meet all your needs (though no “NightShot” zero light capture, they will behave comparatively effectively under low-light conditions) – other than the 25x zoom (but adding a tele-lens is easy to do). Because you did not state a price range, there is no way to know if these can be on your short list.

Even if you go with common definition-only cams, “NightShot” limits you to Sony – and they have no buyer-grade HDD storage based cams that meet all your specifications. Specifically, at the reduced finish, there is no “NightShot”… And the lenses/imaging chip are so little that low-light behavior is poor. You have currently found this.

You can constantly add accessory mounts (search “bescor camera bracket”) to recognize what this means.

Answer by Brenda
Examine out the functions on the cameras at http://www.digitalimaginghq.com/. Make a decision which features are the most important to you, and go from there. I’ve usually had luck with them there. The consumer service is fantastic, too.

Great luck.

What is your viewpoint?

Sanyo VPC-CG20 High Definition Camcorder & 10 MP Camera

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B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio	$ 139.00 + $ .00 shipping