I was going to make a video of me doing various pranks and stuff at school for my senor year, but my current camera sucks. Some parts of video are shaky (not hand shaky), also sound and light are vary funky.
So does anyone know a good cheap(under $300) video camera for this?
Ahh not sure witht that budget, when I went from my tacky DV5000 to a better camera I had to up the budget to around $700. For pranks and random stuff though get a discontinued Sony Handycam model is my advice. I'm not sure how low you can pick them up for but get an older Mini DV one and I don't think it'll be very expensive. I recommend all the Handycam range anyway, they are brilliant in my experience. That's a bit vague but hope that helps.
Canon has some quite nice budget cameras, as do Panasonic.
Remember to buy a camera that uses MiniDV tape, as they in general record at a higher quality.
If you're looking for a good, cheap video camera choose Panasonic. They make great cameras at a very affordable price. 
Yea. I was able to get spend up to 500$ so I got a parasonic hdd video camera, I'm happy with everything except the sound quality. I wish it was slightly better.
| kicy wrote: |
| Yea. I was able to get spend up to 500$ so I got a parasonic hdd video camera, I'm happy with everything except the sound quality. I wish it was slightly better. |
No matter what kind of a camera you have the sound quality will ALWAYS be bad! That's why you need to get an external microphone. That will make the sound WAAAAYYY better! 
Any mini DV camcorder is going to give you decent quality as long as the lighting is good. Most handycams in your $300 price range have 1/6 inch CCD which is TINY so isn't good in low light. But if you have lots of sun it will look fine outside and indoors as long as there's a lot of light. Main thing is external audio. You can get the Canon ZR 800 for $ 150 here:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/478924-REG/Canon_1880B001_ZR800_Mini_DV_Camcorder.html
This camera shoots 16x9 widescreen AND has a external mic jack so you can plug in an external mic and get good audio. Seems like a good deal to me for $150. I must add that I don't know as much about consumer camcorders as I mostly deal with the professional camcorders....the ones that cost $7000 up to $70,000. But from what I can see this looks like it would work well for you. Go for a camera with either 3 CCDs or 1 CMOS. If it has only 1 CCD than it's really worthless to spend money on that because 3CCD or 1 CMOS give you much better colors than only 1 CCD. If you want a good camera it's better to spend a bit more on it than to buy a cheap one which you'll find to be worse than you thought. I'd never go for a camera that is under 500€ except if it was a Panasonic with 3 CCD, but even then it should cost more than 400€. With, let's say, 500 - 700€ you should get a pretty good camera! 
| Whong wrote: |
| If you're looking for a good, cheap video camera choose Panasonic. They make great cameras at a very affordable price. |
I agree, i have a "low end" Panasonic mini DV camera and it works great, never had a problem with itWell, I'd never personally buy a 1 ccd camera either, but I own a business doing this so I am willing to spend money on these things. Most people don't want to spend the kind of money on these things that I do.....and he WAS asking for a camera under $300 so I was trying to answer his question. But of course a 3 CCD camera is better......you are going to get better video from them. However if you can only spend $300.....you can only spend $300. I don't know that I'd be spending a few grand on a camera if it was just a hobby. For me it's not just a hobby so I will spend a lot of money on them.....got to spend money to make it. But if it isn't your business....no way would I spend that kind of money on them. My hobby is basketball.....pretty cheap, I buy a $75 pair of shoes every year or two.
| Alaskacameradude wrote: |
| However if you can only spend $300.....you can only spend $300. |
That's true BUT if you've got only 300$ then don't buy it, save more money for it, with 400 or 450$ you should be able to get a very decent Panasonic.
If you care about quality the 150$ shouldn't be too much extra for that... Try to get some money and buy a solid memory HD capable camera. There's some cheap models on market.
| pudovkin wrote: |
| Try to get some money and buy a solid memory HD capable camera. There's some cheap models on market. |
If you want to edit the footage afterward I'd recommen a camera that records on miniDV or DV cassetes because that way your footage will be at the top quality. Cameras with hard disks tend to reduce the quality. | Whong wrote: |
| Alaskacameradude wrote: | | However if you can only spend $300.....you can only spend $300. |
That's true BUT if you've got only 300$ then don't buy it, save more money for it, with 400 or 450$ you should be able to get a very decent Panasonic.
If you care about quality the 150$ shouldn't be too much extra for that... |
LOL, I tell my wife that all the time (to save the money to get something better). It NEVER works for some reason. She likes to spend money too much I guess, and if she has some money, she doesn't want to save it and wait, kind of the whole instant gratification thing I guess.
