The search for the perfect camcorder…decisions, decisions

May 2, 2008 – 1:54 pm

Like me, I’m sure all of you want to capture those precious moments of your children.  I have been doing a lot of research lately on camcorders and I have decideed that I want a camcorder that uses just flash memory. 

The reasons I decideded on flash memory instead of tapes, discs, or hard drives are…

• Tape drives are the thing of the past and the tape drive of my mini dv camcorder is malfunctioning. 
• Transferring video from tape/dvd is a HUGE hassle
• I don’t have to worry about the hard drive crashing
• Camcorders that use only flash memory are much smaller which means I’ll actually carry it around!

After much much much research, I have narrowed it down to 4 camcorders. All the cameras I list have image stabilization which is a must.  I’ll list the pros and cons of each with the lowest price I have found for each camera. 

….

Canon VIXIA HF100 SDHC Flash Memory Camcorder ($669 at Butterfly Photo)

Pros

• Takes awesome video even in low light conditions
• Records in AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) which is easily edible with my computer and highly compressed.  This is a new format that most newer camcorders are using since it is far suprerior to MPEG or any other format
• Weighs 15.1 ounces with SD card and battery and measures 2.9 by 2.5 by 5.1 inchesweighs 15.1 ounces with SD card and battery and measures 2.9 by 2.5 by 5.1 inches
• Small and light enough to fit into a large jacket pocket
• Records in High Definition
• Input for external mic
• Has the largest optical zoom range of 12x of the four. 

Cons

• Even though it is small, it is still not small enough to carry in a small pocket
• The most expensive of the four I have chosen

Panasonic SDR-S150 (357.64 from Amazon)

Pros

• Half the price of the Canon HF100
• Takes pretty good quality video with the 3CCD sensor
• Can take decent quality video indoors
• Small enough to fit into a medium sized pocket 
• You can burn videos straight to DVDR or CDR and it will play on most DVD players
• Pretty good sound quality

Cons

• Records in MOD format which seems to be Panasonic’s own format.   This is really just MPEG2 technology, so it is hard to edit.  Most video editing programs will not edit this format and you will have to use Panasonic’s software to view the video or you can rename the extension to MPG and it will play on your computer.
• not High Definition
• Even though video and sound is good, the Canon HF100 easily beats this Panny. 
• No input for external mic

Panasonic SDR-S10P1 (198.05 shipped from B&H Photo)

Pros

• Very small.  Can easily fit into a small to medium sized pocket
• Takes great video outdoors and indoors with good lighting
• Cheapest of the bunch

Cons

• If you want to take indoor video without very bright lighting, you can forget it. 
• Uses the same MOD/MPEG2 encoding technology as the Panasonic SDR-S150
• Cannot record in High Definition
• No input for external mic

Canon Powershot TX1 (263.90 shipped at Butterfly photo)

Pros

• Can takes some pretty good still pictures unlike the other 3 camcorders since it can capture 7.1 megapixel images
• Relatively cheap.  Only a little bit more than the Panasonic above
• Can record in High Definition
• Video can be easily edited in most video editing programs because it captures video using Motion Jpeg
• The smallest of the bunch which means I can easily fit it into my pocket and carry it with me at all times

Cons

• Awkward controls.  Controls are placed in strange places and are a little hard to get to
• Forget trying to record indoors because the sensor is so small
• Video sizes are HUGE since it uses Motion Jpeg as it’s format.  4gb card can only hold 13 minutes of video on it’s highest setting.
• Videos have a 4gb limit.
• Even though it can record in HD format, the video is still not close to that of the Canon HF100

Well, there you go.  I guess it will boil down to how much I really want to spend, what quality I really care to have, and the size of the camcorder.  I am really leaning toward the Canon HF100 right now, but the price and size is really making me think twice.  I really like the Canon TX1 since it is so small and I am more likely to carry that around, but the fact that it won’t be able to make good videos indoor worries me.  The two Pannys are good cameras as well, but neither shoot in High Definition and I have a HDTV, so I would really like the video I shoot to be in HD.  I should be getting my stimulus check soon…I guess it’s time to stimulate the economy. ; - )  I will add another post when I finally make my decision.