Video Camera help?

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan, M.D.]

I'm looking to buy a new HD video camera for an upcoming retro video gaming review show I'm doing on YouTube. I don't really know anything about cameras so I'm hoping someone can tell me what I should look out for. Looking to spend up to $300 on the camera and up to $200 on an external shotgun mic for better audio recording.
Any input or info you can send my way will be greatly appreciated along with a nice rep.
Thanks.

MODS- if this is spam you can move it.

 

[Slyfox696]

I'm looking to buy a new HD video camera for an upcoming retro video gaming review show I'm doing on YouTube. I don't really know anything about cameras so I'm hoping someone can tell me what I should look out for. Looking to spend up to $300 on the camera and up to $200 on an external shotgun mic for better audio recording.
Any input or info you can send my way will be greatly appreciated along with a nice rep.
Thanks.

MODS- if this is spam you can move it.

It's been awhile since I was video camera shopping, but here's a link which might give you some ideas.

http://reviews.cnet.com/camcorder-buying-guide/

Additionally, I've always been a fan of an internal hard drive storage system, instead of DVDs or miniDV or even flash based storage. I bought a Sony Handycam a few years back and have never once regretted. It has a 60 GB internal hard drive, and the software used to put it on your computer is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it.

One thing to remember is that HD video is nice, but it also creates VERY large file sizes (in addition to being more expensive). This means that when you upload it to YouTube it's going to take a lot longer to upload than just a standard definition video will AND it will take your viewers longer to download it as well (meaning it will take the video longer to load before they can watch it). And the better the quality of video, the bigger the file size. So you'll have to decide just how good of a video you really need. It's the classic computing dilemma, size vs. quality.

Like I said, it's been a while since I've purchased a camcorder, and even then, I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about them as I'd like, but that information should be good to get you started.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan, M.D.]

Thanks Sly that helped a lot actually. You also taught me a couple things here with the storage and video file sizes ,etc. I appreciate it.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

In addition to what Sly mentioned about the file sizes, you can get some good (and free) compression programs that will help you with the uploading. One program worth a look is Any Video Converter. You may want to play about with the different output formats so you can see how they vary on quality and file size then go from there.

As for the mic aspect, if you're recording yourself in a quiet room then you should be ok. If you do go for a mic then make sure the camera has the right input for it (3.5 jack rather than XLR for example.)

If you're going to use the camera for other purposes, look for one with good optical zoom rather than digital zoom. Optical zoom will involve parts of the lens moving to zoom in and maintain quality, while digital zoom will essentially imitate the zoom function but at a loss of quality.
Sony, Canon and Nikon are good names to look out for. Sony's can sometimes be a little more expensive than similar camcorders, however they use Carl Zeiss lenses which are handmade and very good quality.

Best of luck!

 

[Phoenix]

One thing to note is that camcorders on the cheaper end rarely have the option to use external microphones nowadays, the only brand I have seen to offer it on a cheap end HD camcorder is Panasonic. Most people have a tendency to use a Digital SLR instead, as a Youtube Content Maker, I am one of them. The flexibility of SLRs nowadays is brilliant because you can invest in things like lenses and also all bar entry-level SLRs have the option to take external microphones. For good affordable SLRs look at the Canon EOS 550D/600D or the Nikon D5100, the latter two offer vari-angled screens that allows you to see what you're filming if you're facing the camera. Image quality is great too, but also the sensor is bigger than a camcorder so the quality is better, but takes a lot of memory. It's a compromise but it's having flexibility for the future.

External microphone wise, I suggest the Rode VideoMic, affordable and very good quality and picks up sound very well.

My job involves selling cameras and camcorders on a daily basis, so I can offer more advice if you need any.