Be Excellent To Each Other

Chums,

I want to purchase a camera to record 'videos' of 'things'. I know nothing about any form of camera. You all seem to know about cameras. So tell me about cameras! Try to concentrate your tellings to the area of "video cameras that would be suitable for recording boring girly vlogs about make-up" but also consider the fact that the camera might not always be used near a computer, so I can't rely on COMPUTER-BASED-MICROPHONAL-SUPPORT. (read: musn't have a shit mic).

Oh, I imagine you'll ask for a budget? Erm... How much do these things cost? £250 as a max? Is that too little? Is it even less in terms of purchasing power than my knowledge of cameras is in terms of knowledge of cameras? I'm not going to be making any Indie movies or anything.

I would just look on some websites for reviews, but I don't know which ones are trust worthy. Also, a search of this forum just points to a billion "Bits 'n' Bobs" threads and I refuse to read those things.

THANKS BEEX

If you are recording yourself making fuck then you almost certainly don't want an HD camera, which should keep the cost down.

I have a Sanyo Xacti which I bought off play.com. its very good with an excellent picture but the main selling point of it is that it's super small.

Depends what you want I guess but this is ideal for putting in your pocket/bum bag and can be took anywhere.

You'll also need quite a large tub of vaseline for the lens.

And look for one with auto-cunt recognition. I hate those movies where people are banging away but the only thing in focus is the curtains.

Heh, curtains.

Clearly any camera that does that is functioning as per spec.

Perhaps I should have said wallpaper.

So there you have it Pod!

I bet you're glad you asked now aren't you? I'm pretty sure this thread contains everything you need to know about buying a new camera.

Right... where next... I believe I head someone say they need a new graphics card? Maybe we can help!

Chinny will tell you to buy a HD Sony Camera... with a Mac, and those headphones he always plugs.

Ooops, almost forgot, for POV shooting you'll need a decent anti-shake facility.

You need this site:

http://www.camcorderinfo.co.uk/

They are generally right about stuff, which is handy. I have no idea about what life is like down in your price range but they appear to have a number of cameras that will suit your needs. Just don't expect miracles.

Also try to ensure you buy a PAL model. Alot of people are getting caught out buying cheap cameras that are NTSC only. I know modern TV's can cope with lots of standards but running NTSC gear causes all sorts of other problems.

For anyone else looking to spend a tad more, Canon have some nice models and my consumer model of choice at the moment is the Canon Legria HFS11. In fact I liked it so much I bought one.



Yes I know it says Vixia on the case but that's the American name. Given enough light it does a reasonable job.