Any good, cheap HD cameras?

[yourbeliefs]

I'm looking to get a HD camera for Xmas, but I'm a bit confused as to which one to get. These things range in price from $150 to $1,500, and I don't want to just get a low price model with bad quality and value, nor do I want an overpriced model that breaks the bank. The HD Flip Cameras look nice, but I don't like that you can't upgrade their memory and that they can't take still shots. Are there any good HD camera/camcorders out there less than $500 that would take good video (I don't need BD/1080p video quality) as well as still shots and swappable memory?

 

[theedge103]

Are there any good HD camera/camcorders out there less than $500 that would take good video (I don't need BD/1080p video quality) as well as still shots and swappable memory?

I was in the same situation with a new child on the way.. the best camera for the money seemed to be the Canon HG10. I found it on eBay for $400 as a refurbished item from Tigerdirect.. you can get 8% back if you go through Bing.com - search for camcorder then use the eBay link... there is info on that all over the net... so for $368 and I think free shipping you get a great HD camera... I also got Pinnacle Studio 14 to do the editing on my PC.

 

[harshness]

The Canon HF cameras are VERY nice and even the lower end models are highly rated.

JVC makes a relatively inexpensive HD unit as well.

 

[navychop]

I am partial to the Canon Vixia series, but I doubt that you'll find one near $500. Maybe the HF10 won't be too much above that. They also have still shots and allow for attachments. Quality won't be up to BDs, but will be significantly better than the old camcorders.

You'll want some image stabilization. I suggest one that uses SD cards. Some use HDDs. I don't recommend the disc burners.

Some JVCs seem to be popular.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I am partial to the Canon Vixia series, but I doubt that you'll find one near $500. Maybe the HF10 won't be too much above that. They also have still shots and allow for attachments. Quality won't be up to BDs, but will be significantly better than the old camcorders.

You'll want some image stabilization. I suggest one that uses SD cards. Some use HDDs. I don't recommend the disc burners.

Some JVCs seem to be popular.

Yeah I want easily swappable memory. I'd really prefer to not deal with HDDs or burners. Some built in memory would be nice as well, but it wouldn't be a dealbreaker.

 

[navychop]

I should have said SDHC cards. Probably Class 4 or better, min 16GB size. I found internal memory to be of no use- transferring data is much easier to me to remove a card than to plug in cables. Plus, I get to keep certain themes on certain cards.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I should have said SDHC cards. Probably Class 4 or better, min 16GB size. I found internal memory to be of no use- transferring data is much easier to me to remove a card than to plug in cables. Plus, I get to keep certain themes on certain cards.

Right. I wasn't going to run around with a bunch of 4GB cards.. ;p

 

[harshness]

I am partial to the Canon Vixia series, but I doubt that you'll find one near $500.

Amazon.com is currently offering the HF200 for $515.

 

[yourbeliefs]

It looks like a lot of these don't do still shots, and if they do, they do cell-phone quality shots (which typically aren't that great.) I'd really like an "all-in-one" solution, but I don't want to throw away my perfectly competent 7.1MP Canon in exchange for something that takes pictures like my Motorola Q9..

 

[harshness]

I think we made a mistake in assuming that when you said HD camera, you meant "HD video camcorder".

If you're looking for an high pixel count still camera, the answer probably isn't a video camera.

It is important to note that high pixel count is something that does not assure you of quality pictures. As the count goes up, the size of the lenses seems to be going down. I've seen some 1.3MP still cameras that consistently produce as good or better pictures than a 12MP pocket model.