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Video/audio camera opinions ?


davd_indigo

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I'm thinking of buying an "audio" camera for recording segments of lessons, skypeing and band recordings. The two that have caught my eye are the Olympus LS20M (about $115) and the Sony HDR-MV1 (about $300). I notice the Olympus had a release date of 6/15/11. The Sony's release date was 12/06/13. I'm leaning toward the Sony just because it seems closer to having "nailed" it. I do realize that "nailing it" is a moving target.

 

 

Are there any opinions on these ? Any recommended ones I may not have noticed ? My research has just been reading reviews on Amazon.

 

 

Thanks,

 

David

 

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Have you considered just using an iPad mini? Great camera, plenty of quality for the web or DVDs. Get a great quality USB mic and be done. The great thing is when you aren't using it as a camera, you can be using it for everything else.

We used them last year to shoot video at NAMM and it worked great.

You can add a Padcaster Mini for shot gun mics, LED lights, and other accessories. Most of the news stations are going to this set up with live broadcasting ...

 

D

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If you want high quality audio, where you can plug in your own mics or record direct you really want something with an external input, either mic level or better yet line level. Camera built in mics are fine for voices but music of any decent db level tends to distort the mics. Many have mic compression or AGC built in and you get huge swells as it clamps down on the volume level.

 

If your plan is for training purposes then you probably wont need much.

 

I worked for Canon and bought one of their Camcorders. It has the ability to record 2 tracks at 20 bit which is pretty cool. You can record music then dub in vocal tracks later. Its got some other features like wide screen and effects. The remote control is a must for recording yourself.

 

I mainly use mine for recording the band. Mine only has an aux mic input so I have to use an attenuator to drop it down to line level. I can then use a small mixer and pump several mics and line levels into the mixer and record. Later I can put the recording on my computer, import it into Sonar Producer and process the audio tracks, add in extra parts if I want and make it sound more professional. From there I can burn CD's or upload it to the net.

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I'm not saying this is the greatest thing, but it's what I have. Zoom Q3, I think it's called, and it's easy to use and works great. Really surprisingly good audio quality, and the video's not bad. Zoom has several variations on this, some that have HD video, so search for something like this and see what you dig up.

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How 'bout the sound? The Zoom that I have, the Q3, I think it's called, has okay video, but the sound is amazing for such a cheap little thing. I shouldn't even qualify that. It's just plain good, period. I was recording band rehearsals and all sorts of things, plus field recordings with this thing and it held up really well, very clear with no distortion, and very full sounding.

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The Zoom does have great sound, but I guess as I have gotten older, I like simplicity. A great USB mic with an iPad mini will do what the Zoom with and with an app like Pinnicle you can edit and upload to the web all in one device, and then sit and surf and answer e-mails ... or heck, post on Harmony Central ...

 

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I keep coming back to the Sony HDR-MV1. It seems to be designed first and foremost for audio. With the X/Y mic configuration. No zoom or stabilization, but in the 30 minute youtube review (link below) , the guy walks around Manchester UK holding it next to his thigh (leg). Because of the wide angle, apparently the image is fairly stable. He also shows how the camera works in low light at around 13 minutes into the video.

 

 

.[video=youtube_share;HqYkiyLux4c]

 

It also allows you to record audio only which I can see coming in handy at times. Thanks for the input.

 

 

David

 

 

 

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I use a Canon VIXIA HF R21 camcorder because it has a stereo input for mic or line. I run the output from by Studio Live 16.0.2 to a Soundcraft Notepad so that I can have RCA outputs to the camcorder. I think this is the best option for recording a low budget live music video. I just recorded this yesterday.

 

 

 

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I keep coming back to the Sony HDR-MV1. It seems to be designed first and foremost for audio. With the X/Y mic configuration. No zoom or stabilization, but in the 30 minute youtube review (link below) , the guy walks around Manchester UK holding it next to his thigh (leg). Because of the wide angle, apparently the image is fairly stable. He also shows how the camera works in low light at around 13 minutes into the video.

 

 

.[video=youtube_share;HqYkiyLux4c]

 

It also allows you to record audio only which I can see coming in handy at times. Thanks for the input.

 

 

David

 

 

 

 

that looks really cool. :cool05:

 

 

 

 

ima get one :rawk:

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