Hello all. My first post. I have confused myself this week while researching a new camcorder purchase.

My current is a Pan VHS-C so you can see I am out of the loop. Want a new camera to film kids sports, home/family stuff and daughters dance recital. Had the idea for a while. Was at Samsclub and saw a JVC HD3. Liked the looks of the larger than normal lens and 3CCD on the side. $550. Research a bit and find it uses a non-standard format to record. That scares me. So I look further.

I don't need HD. Normal video is fine. Stable image. Decent low light for dance recital. Won't be doing much editing, just burning movies to DVD for sharing and storing.

After reading, seems Flash/SD might be the way. I don't want tapes or mini-DVD. Would like to be able to put it on a tripod and forget it for a 1-1.5 hour performance. I guess that would be possible if not going with HD mode and rapidly consuming memory. Don't have to have the newest toy and not going to spend more than $800. $400 would be much better.

Video is not my hobby and don't plan on it being. I like to fish and fishing electronics. But I do want it to be right when I video. I don't want my girls recital film to be dark or poor color etc.

Can you help with some choices. I don't need tons of extra stuff. Good camera and an extra battery. Load it up at home and burn.

Thanks all,

Dayton

Ranger, the FS11 is a good choice:

-standard defintion (not HD)
-good build
-easy to use
-16 gig of internal flash memory built-in. This is not a moving parts hard drive, this is flash memory, which is better because it doesn't really have the potential for failure and you don't have to worry about moving it around like with a hard drive camcorder that is more sensitive.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AjfiOv6PL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
http://ces.cnet.com/i/bto/20080107/FS11_540.jpg

The highest quality mode, XP (9 Mbps) you can record for 3 hours and 40 minutes all in the built-in camera's memory.. (The lower modes up to 10 1/2 hours.) You can also shoot to SD/SDHC cards with this.

The times indicated are likely the amount of data/time you can store - I wouldn't run the camcorder continuously for hours on end as it, like most camcorders, get hot.

The best price I see is $379.95, although maybe you can find it even cheaper. There is also the Canon FS10, which has 8 gigs of memory and the FS100 which can only shoot to the cards.

http://www.nextag.com/Canon-FS11/search-html

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-FS11-Camcorder-Internal-Optical/dp/B00114LG7A


I suggested the FS11 because you said you just wanted to leave it on a tripod, without having to worry about time left.

I don't need HD. Normal video is fine.

After reading, seems Flash/SD might be the way. I don't want tapes or mini-DVD. Would like to be able to put it on a tripod and forget it for a 1-1.5 hour performance. I guess that would be possible if not going with HD mode and rapidly consuming memory. Don't have to have the newest toy and not going to spend more than $800. $400 would be much better.


Dayton

Just looking at that, don't rule out the HF10's. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you could get a card big enough to run if full HD for more then 1.5 hours. You could have problems in a dark shooting area though.

Thanks for the replys. I don't know how anyone ever pics a cam to buy. I know that now one unit is perfect, but you can drive yourself crazy reading reviews and seeing some info that makes you doubt the way you were leaning. I don't want to spend a grand, but I don't want to video my daughters recital and then be unsatisfied with the performance under the darker conditions.

The more I look, the more confused I become.

Dayton

Hello ranger, a couple of months ago I was in a position similar to yours: decided to buy a normal definition camcorder without cassettes and wondering what could be right for me. I flipped between the Canon FS100 and JVC MG330, that seemed similar. I wathced to some sample videos taken from both, found on vimeo.com or youtube.com and then I asked advice on this same forum.
I've been told that sdandard definition camcorders that record on hard disk or flash memory have very poor image quality, that high definition ones are far better, that sample videos found on the internet not always show the effective images and that if possible I should have tested the camcorders myself before I decide.
Luckily I found a friend who lent me his standard definition Hard Disk JVC camcorder and so I could see myself. It actually had very poor image quality, if confronted with my old standard definition recording on cassettes. For me it's almost no use in having videos so grainy, in which the compression is so apparent.
Maybe you find the image quality of such camcorders acceptable, but in my opinion you should see yourself befor you buy one.
By the way: i decided to buy a high definition one, but I've not yet decided what to choose!

Quite true, I have done a video that compares a Sony HDR-SR12 (HD) to a DCR-SR45 (SD) both current model hard drive camcorders. The SR45 footage looks nasty in comparison. Night and day. not look closely and you will see a difference, it makes the SR45 look like it should be illegal. The image stabilizer is nasty on the SR45 also. Impossible to zoom in, while hand holding and retain a steady image (even if you hold it properly with two hands, resting your elbows on your stomach. Very easy with the SR12.

Thanks all. Eliminated the FS100 tonight. Played with it at Best Buy. Image turned grainy very quickly while zooming, even in the well lit retail store.

Taking a hard look at Canon HF100. Only difference I see between it and HF10 is the built in memory.

Can someone tell me why there are such extreme spreads in online pricing. Is something missing from the low ones? The HF100 goes from $529 to over $700.

Thanks everyone.

Dayton

Nothing is missing, some stores just like to think they can still get close to msrp for something that's been out for a year.

As for deciding between the HF10 and HF100, the HF100 gives you the freedom to never have to connect your camera directly to your computer, just take out the SD card and put it in a card reader. However, if you don't want to have to deal with a bunch of SD cards (it's really not that bad), the HF10 affords about 2 hours of full quality video on it's built-in storage.

Personally, I chose the HF100 because at the time it was cheaper to get it and a enough SD cards for 4x the storage of the HF10.