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Good low light camcorder thats Mac friendly. Easy and High quality


snoggin

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I have a Sony Hd camcorder that my ex wife and I have been sharing but the truth is it sucks in low light like is present in most gigs. the sound quality is good

The other thing is it saves video in MTS format which has to be converted n order to be used in I movie or uploaded to you tube etc I think.. Looking for an easier process with high quality.

Anyone have some recommendations? I could spend around a Grand I guess.

Thanks

Tim

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Well I can say I have LOTS of experience in this space. I'm no videographer but I've spent countless hours filming and producing video for my band. Alot of cameras suck in low light and there are very few that are optimized for low light situations. I gotten some good results using a variety of equipment. And each piece of gear has pro's and cons.

Canon HV40 The last miniDV camera on the market under $1000. They retail $599 now. It is a terrific camera to film with. It has some deep controls for ISO and shutter settings, a great glass lense, 43,, filter thread (so you can add on lenses), and an audio input. Unfortunately I'm filming guerrilla style or handing the camera off to someone so I don't have time to fool with settings. It's been my work horse the last 2-3 years. I haven't gotten very crisp images from it but it's never failed getting decent footage in even the lowest light possible. Sometimes I'll snap on a wide angle lens which will diffuse/distort the image slightly but also let in more light. You have to buy and manage tapes... every time I try a camera shooting to flash memory I'm reminded why the 'pros' still use tape.



The benefit to this cam is work flow. I get home late at night, plug the cam in, rewind the tape and import flawlessly. It has to import in real time however there is no compression at all. 45 minutes of video... 45 minutes to import. But I have an opportunity to monitor what I import. If I have just 10 minutes of good footage to work with then I don't want all 45 minutes on tape.

This I shot with a $130 Canon 300ELPH point and shoot digital.


It has a great sensor, a glass lens and is terrific in low light and harsh conditions. The catch... no audio port and the audio is terrible. Almost inaudible. So I had to sync audio from a Zoom H4 plugged into our board. That takes time and alot of effort. I'd much rather capture decent audio to tape rather than trying to marry files together.

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