Camcorder Black Friday Deals

Canon VIXIA HF M500 Full HD 10x Image Stabilized Camcorder with One SDXC Card Slot and 3.0 Touch LCD by Canon
$350 http://amzn.com/B006UMMPGE


Canon VIXIA HF M50 Full HD 10x Image Stabilized Camcorder
$400 http://amzn.com/B006UMMPMI

I thought about starting this kind of thread days ago and can't believe I never got to it. I've been doing it every year. Anyway, it's good that at least someone got to do it. With that said, people will be better off with the V700 if they can afford the extra $100. With the combination of a very tiny chip and lower than 1080p pixel resolution, it's easily destroyed by the V700.

Here's the Panasonc V700 for $400
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/839122-REG/Panasonic_HC_V700_V700M_Full_HD_Camcorder.html
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-HCV700K-Angle-Camcorder-Black/dp/B0072B5E7E/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353475457&sr=1-2&keywords=v700

B&H also has the M500 for $350
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838772-REG/Canon_M500_VIXIA_HF_M500_Full.html

The Panasonic X900 is finally down to $700 again.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838813-REG/Panasonic_HC_X900M_HC_X900M_High_Definition_Camcorder.html
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-X900MK-Camcorder-Internal-HC-X900MK/dp/B0072B5E2Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353475773&sr=1-1&keywords=x900

This really stinks for me. I'm itching to get the X900 but the AC90 has some important features that I really need. Now if the X900 has native 24p from the very beginning, I might have considered it. On the other hand, I don't know if I'll be able to afford the AC90 yet. $2,000 is a lot of money for that camera but unfortunately theirs no other alternative that has both 1080 60p and full manual controls in this price range or less.
Edited by Paulo Teixeira - 11/20/12 at 9:43pm

Samsung W300 (update to the W200) Waterproof/Dustproof/Shockproof Pocket Camcorder -
Full HD 1080p, 5.5 MegaPixels, CMOS Sensor, 2.3" LCD, 3x Digital, MicroSD Card Slot, Built-in USB, Auto Aqua Mode, Red:

$69.99:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2032137&CatId=4451

I've been wanting a dedicated electronic picture frame for playing video and and photos in my office. Costco has a Samsung LED HDTV/Monitor down to $160 for the weekend. Besides HDMI and a VGA connector, it has a USB Media Player built in.

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/monitors/LT22A350ND/ZA

I stood in line with everyone buying pumpkin pie yesterday. The first thing I did was plug it into my laptop. I now have a two screen editing system for Premier Elements. Today I'll plug in an an external HDD with all my videos and photos. If the built in Samsung media player isn't good enough, I'll use a WD Live TV media player.

Bill

I have a older, smaller WD external HDD that is normally plugged into an older WD TV Live Plus that handles every file type I know of. It sends the signal through an HDMI to any TV. I moved the HDD from the WD TV to the Samsung Monitor/HDTV.

Sampling what was on the HDD with Samsung works well enough and the remote controls it.

I have found two issues, so far:

1. It won't play 1080p60. But the other .mst files played fine. The solution will be using the WD TV Live media player. I think it might be one of those AVCHD 1.0 vs 2.0 things.

2. It plays continously only if the clips or photos are in a foder. It won't play multiple folders.

It is still a "keeper" as it puts 1920 x 1080 on my desk. It is a monitor, and my DirecTV plays on it. Note that my "office" is not for work. It is more of a toy room for a retired person!

Don't buy one if you want to play 1080p60 directly through its USB. The rest of what it does seem to function very well. The reduced Costco price is until Nov 26.

Bill

Newegg Black Friday started and they have the HC-X900MK for... $1,199.00.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830180483

They do have the refurbished Canon VIXIA HF M301 for $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830120627

Amazon started also, but don't see any deals on mid/higher end camcorders:
http://www.amazon.com/Deals-Camera-Photo/b/ref=bf2012_ln_camera/189-4566095-5541935?ie=UTF8&node=761198&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-2&pf_rd_r=0K4PPZKQ9YZEKJRMQHYZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1420738542&pf_rd_i=384082011

You have to dig through the brand sections, the only thing possibly is the cheaper Sony Projector camcorder/but don't know what they regular go for...
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HDRPJ260V-Definition-Camcorder-Projector/dp/B006K5505E/ref=sr_1_1?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1353628593&sr=1-1

Some of the mirrorless and DSLR's look like okay deals, but still nothing great.

Seems like Black Friday has evolved into the the assumption that things are on sale, when most don't really appear so.
Maybe Cyber Monday and/or December will bring sales like last year.

Canon S100 for $229
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=xs_gb_AP1VWLO1S4TRN?ie=UTF8&docId=1000856581&pf_rd_p=441937901&pf_rd_s=right-1&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=20&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=057ER5V6FPGDMGV4S891

It can shoot in 1080 24p and basically for the current price of $229, I really don't think you'll find a still camera with better low light abilities in that price range. This is a special deal so it may not last long.

I was checking that out...the video quality is really clean and sharp..

Regarding the focus ring, it seems you can't use it during video (or maybe you can use it for video before hitting the start, but just not during filming)?
Anyway, the quality is impressive @38mbps and it also shoots RAW photos.

"What does it do when you try to play 1080/60p files?"

An error message pops up that says it does not support "60 fps". My bet is the Panasonic will have no issue because Panasonic and Sony own the AVCHD 1080p60 stuff and have been selling camcorders that create those formats for a few years.

My goal was to get a desk sized TV. I looked at Sony, Panasonic and others and didn't find anything as small or as cheap.

Bill

The Sony HDR-CX260 came down to $328 on Amazon, so I couldn't resist and bought it. http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HDR-CX260V-Definition-Handycam-Camcorder/dp/B006K5507M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353790176&sr=8-1&keywords=sony+cx260
Was also considering Canon M500 $349 or Sony CX160 $299

Panasonic HC-V500K $199 @ Newegg...1920x1080/60p:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830180488
Edited by xfws - 11/25/12 at 8:29am

Not a bad deal for the camera as long as people know what their getting into.
Single 1/5.8" chip, 1.5 total MP and 1.30 - 1.12MP for the video.
http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/HC-V500K?t=specs
In comparison, 1920x1080 = almost 2.1MP.

I can't believe Panasonic originally sold this for $450 with those kind of specs. I'm glad you can get it for a fair price now.

1080p for $189.

http://www.costco.com/.product.11748797.html?&cm_mmc=CyberMonday-_-Focus-_-72-_-MarketingItemName

If it doesn't work, Costco takes anything back without question!

Bill

On Edit: Maybe Costco just thinks it is 1080p. Googling a little suggests 1080p60 is not in the specs.

If you read many of my posts, you will know I am impressed with and use Adobe Premier Elements 11. Since this is a camcorder forum and topic, this is the first version that fully supports 1080p60 projects. The price has dropped significantly from when I bought it. It is now at $50. I think that Amazon is matching a BF deal at the Adobe store for a few days.

http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-65193942-Premiere-Elements-11/dp/B0093FROFM/ref=sr_1_1?s=software&ie=UTF8&qid=1353948799&sr=1-1&keywords=premier+elements+11

I bought Lightroom too. Lightroom can do a lot with a batch of photos and is weak with video. I shot 100 RAW photos of my granddaughters in terrible light. In Lightroom I fixed one and applied the fix to the rest. In Photoshop, Elements or Pro, you fix one at a time. So for my 9,000 photos I'm going to use Lightroom to organize and "adjust" them. When there is one that can benefit from some serious work, I will use Photoshop.

Video is different. Lightroom will help at keeping track, but does little to "adjust" clips. So, for video, my workflow is different. I copy the video files to a project folder, work on them, produce a video and then save the entire folder somewhere. Output from Premier Elements 11 has so many choices it is not practical to list them. The problem with output is finding an optimum preset for the viewing device. Yes, you can output to a 1080p60 file (and set the bitrate) with Premier Elements 11, but how does anybody view it? Instead, Premier Elements 11 provides optimized choices to provide output from Blu-Ray to Vimeo. You pick based on who is gong to look at what you make.

Your photographer wife who shoots RAW needs Lightroom and Photoshop, Elements or Pro. As a vidographer, you only need Premier Elements or Pro.

Bill

m500 is now $299!

Panasonic HCV700K for $156.55

5 Left at this price.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-HCV700K-Angle-Camcorder-Black/dp/B0072B5E7E/

Too late. It went up to $398.


Screenshot of the deal:

It's probably a mistake and wouldn't ship.

The V700 for $156.55 would have been an incredible bargain but looking at the screenshot, you can see that it's being shipped and sold by Goodios so it's not directly from Amazon. Eighter the posting was a scam and Amazon noticed it or Goodios put the wrong price by accident. For sure if it had said shipped and sold by Amazon, you would have had to have ordered it as quickly as possible because it wouldn't have been long for that to have sold out especially after posting it on here. I know if I had seen an X900 for something like $500, I would have ordered it before I told anybody about it. These kind of deals not only attract people who needs a camcorder but also people looking to flip it so you know they'd buy multiples.

concerning the $299 deal for the canon m500
amazon is currently out of stock and B&H raised the price. the only place i currently see it is Adorama