Looking for a new video camera and editing software

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Looking for a new video camera and editing software
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flag nwatkins
Posted: Oct 21, 2008 at 23:56 Quote
I don’t know too much about filming but my friends and I want to start getting into making high quality biking and other videos. Right now I'm using a Canon ZR850 which is pretty much the standard bad quality house camera. And I used windows movie maker which is the worst.

So I want a video camera that:
1. Very HD clear image
2. Capable of putting on various fish eyes
3. easy to download and edit on computer
4. fairly easy to use and maintain
5. price range around $500 -1000

Video editing software:
1. capable of editing HD film
2. Compatible with windows vista
3. Lots of features, creative titles, slow-mo, color changes... the works.


If you could recommend what you think I should look into that would be great. Thanks!
flag SpikeX
Posted: Oct 25, 2008 at 0:41 Quote
SavageMountainAnimal wrote:
I don’t know too much about filming but my friends and I want to start getting into making high quality biking and other videos. Right now I'm using a Canon ZR850 which is pretty much the standard bad quality house camera. And I used windows movie maker which is the worst.

So I want a video camera that:
1. Very HD clear image
2. Capable of putting on various fish eyes
3. easy to download and edit on computer
4. fairly easy to use and maintain
5. price range around $500 -1000

Video editing software:
1. capable of editing HD film
2. Compatible with windows vista
3. Lots of features, creative titles, slow-mo, color changes... the works.


If you could recommend what you think I should look into that would be great. Thanks!

I have a Sony HDR-SR12, which records in full 1920 x 1080 HD, and has many awesome features, such as Smooth Slow-Mo (120fps), Face Detection, many enhancers for different filming conditions (candlelight, fireworks, etc.), a 3.5" touch screen, and of course manual focus / shutter speed / etc controls via a twisting knob on the front of the camera. It records to a 120GB HDD which means it's really easy to put onto a computer, and it gives about 900 minutes of footage on the highest quality HD it can do (18MBPS). It has a 5.6MP CCD and will take still pictures at 10.1MP (and the pics look really good). All in all it's a great camera, but it costs $1,500 in the US. You could look at the SR-11 or the SR-10, which have smaller screens, a slightly lower quality CCD, smaller HDDs, and don't have the manual control knob (although you can still control those with the touch screen).

As for editing, I use Adobe's new CS4 Production Premium Suite, which includes sound editing, video editing, effects, etc. They all work together to make an incredible editing system, but the problem is the whole suite costs $2,000. So what you could do is get only the basic version of the video editing software, Adobe Premiere Elements, which should cost you $100 or so.
flag nwatkins
Posted: Oct 25, 2008 at 9:39 Quote
Ok thanks, that one seems pretty good I'll have to look into it for sure.

I've also been doing reaserch since I made this thread and heres basicly the video cameras that i have on my list, it would be great if you could tell me which one you think is best as far as quality goes:

Panasonic HDC-SD100
Sony HDR-SR10
Canon Vixia HG20
Sony HDR-SR12
flag SpikeX
Posted: Oct 25, 2008 at 11:05 Quote
To be honest I've only tried the HDRs in that list. I've already briefly mentioned the SR12 above, and the SR10 I have used is almost as good.

The HDR-SR10 is just a slightly downgraded version of the SR12. The SR10 produces slightly lower quality video than the SR12, and only takes 4MP still photos (the SR12 takes 10.2MP stills) - this is due to the different sensors (the SR12 has a 5.6MP sensor, and the SR10 a 2.3MP sensor). It records in 1920 x 1080 HD just like the SR12, and also comes with a built-in 5.1CH Surround Sound microphone, just like the 12. The SR10 has almost all the features of the SR12, including Face Detection, and the HDD size is the same (120GB). I forgot to mention that both camcorders can record to Memory Stick PRO Duo (Sony's version of an SD card which is slightly smaller and a widely accepted format), which is a very nice feature to have. The SR10 has a 2.7" touch screen, whilst the SR12 has a 3.2" screen. And lastly the SR10 lacks the manual control knob that the SR12 has, a handy feature to control either your choice of focus or other basic camer controls (all the controls can also be used in the SR10, just you have to access the menus via the touch screen).

The SR10 actually has a BIGGER zoom than the SR12 - the SR10 has a 15x zoom whilst the SR12 only has a 12x zoom. Both have a 180x digital zoom.

Obviously I would splurge for the SR12 if possible, but the SR10 is a great camera too, which will not disappoint, especially if you come from the standard defintion world as I did. Both cameras have some great features that are as close to prosumer camcorders as possible. I can't compare them to the other brands in that list, but I can guarantee you that you will not go wrong with either one.
flag SpikeX
Posted: Oct 25, 2008 at 11:13 Quote
I forgot to mention that fisheye lens can be mounted on both cameras. Downloading footage to a computer is very easy with the included Sony Picture Motion Browser software, but there are some problems after that. The Sonys record in AVCHD format, which quite a few editing programs don't recognize. To get the best quality you will have to get a conversion software to convert the clips to something that the software will support, or one great editing program that I used to use was Sony Vegas 8.0 Pro, which directly supported AVCHD without any conversion. It was a pretty advanced program, and like the Adobe program I mentioned earlier, is available in a basic version for around the region of $100.

And it you need any in-depth information on the cameras (detailed filming quality, battery life, etc.) just ask.
flag nwatkins
Posted: Oct 25, 2008 at 19:28 Quote
SpikeX wrote:
I forgot to mention that fisheye lens can be mounted on both cameras. Downloading footage to a computer is very easy with the included Sony Picture Motion Browser software, but there are some problems after that. The Sonys record in AVCHD format, which quite a few editing programs don't recognize. To get the best quality you will have to get a conversion software to convert the clips to something that the software will support, or one great editing program that I used to use was Sony Vegas 8.0 Pro, which directly supported AVCHD without any conversion. It was a pretty advanced program, and like the Adobe program I mentioned earlier, is available in a basic version for around the region of $100.

And it you need any in-depth information on the cameras (detailed filming quality, battery life, etc.) just ask.

Thanks a lot ofr the info, thats good to know about the AVHD format. Since I'm looking for an editing software as well I think getting the Vegas would be worth it If I decided on that camera. Between the two the HDR-SR12 seems like it would work out and I dont mind spending the extra money. But I know as well that the other cameras have a lot to offer as well.

One question I do have is, say I purchase the Sony HDR-SR12 and the Basic version of Vegas for Windows Vista, being an amature at filming and editing, would it be very hard for me to operate both?
flag SpikeX
Posted: Oct 26, 2008 at 0:02 Quote
SavageMountainAnimal wrote:
SpikeX wrote:
I forgot to mention that fisheye lens can be mounted on both cameras. Downloading footage to a computer is very easy with the included Sony Picture Motion Browser software, but there are some problems after that. The Sonys record in AVCHD format, which quite a few editing programs don't recognize. To get the best quality you will have to get a conversion software to convert the clips to something that the software will support, or one great editing program that I used to use was Sony Vegas 8.0 Pro, which directly supported AVCHD without any conversion. It was a pretty advanced program, and like the Adobe program I mentioned earlier, is available in a basic version for around the region of $100.

And it you need any in-depth information on the cameras (detailed filming quality, battery life, etc.) just ask.

Thanks a lot ofr the info, thats good to know about the AVHD format. Since I'm looking for an editing software as well I think getting the Vegas would be worth it If I decided on that camera. Between the two the HDR-SR12 seems like it would work out and I dont mind spending the extra money. But I know as well that the other cameras have a lot to offer as well.

One question I do have is, say I purchase the Sony HDR-SR12 and the Basic version of Vegas for Windows Vista, being an amature at filming and editing, would it be very hard for me to operate both?

Well if I can do it, so can you. I'm 14 years old and also not a pro at filming and editing yet. The camera itself is very easy to use - the menus are easily accessible and the features are too. It couldn't be easier to operate, and after a few days operating it will become second nature to you. As for the editing software, if you get Sony Vegas Movie Studio Premium or Platinum Pro Pack (both under $100), it will take a while to get used to if you come from something basic such as Movie Maker, but it's all logic and you can find some helpful how-tos and tutorials for it. After you get over the initial learning curve, if becomes very easy to use and your videos will look that much more professional.
flag Kane-Chenoweth
Posted: Oct 26, 2008 at 2:36 Quote
Hey man,
I use a Sony sr12 which I'm selling at the moment.
Really good you can suss some of my vids quality turns out well.
Theres a cool function where it films in slow mo very prime.
I recomend a sony sr12
flag SpikeX
Posted: Oct 26, 2008 at 12:21 Quote
Kane-Chenoweth wrote:
Hey man,
I use a Sony sr12 which I'm selling at the moment.
Really good you can suss some of my vids quality turns out well.
Theres a cool function where it films in slow mo very prime.
I recomend a sony sr12

Kinda off topic, but did you do Connor Fearon's Promo Vid with the SR12? Did you use the Slo-Mo on the camera or was it edited later on?
flag jo-biking
Posted: Oct 29, 2008 at 12:57 Quote
canon hv30
canon hv30
canon hv30

do it. Best consumer hd camera under 1000 on the market. FOR sure.
flag mike-l
Posted: Dec 5, 2008 at 19:58 Quote
hey guys im looking for a hd camera around 600-700 dollars can you help me out please!
flag vholdrcam
Posted: Dec 12, 2008 at 15:25 Quote
Hey guys. You might check out VholdR a quality camera. On Amazon they've discounted the camera to $299 for this weekend. It's small, lightweight, easy to use and gets digital quality footage. Check it out if you're in the market for a camera!
flag mike-l
Posted: Dec 12, 2008 at 15:28 Quote
aha look at that guys name:P
flag
Posted: May 11, 2009 at 21:33 Quote
i have a canon HG10 and its awesome, it cost around 600, shoots in HD 1080p. only problem i had was finding an editing program that was compatible with canons weird .mt2s video format. the software it comes with does not work with vista at all so i spent several weeks looking and downloading different editing programs and the one that works best is Sony Vegas 8 Pro.
flag SpikeX
Posted: May 11, 2009 at 22:09 Quote
daveman wrote:
i have a canon HG10 and its awesome, it cost around 600, shoots in HD 1080p. only problem i had was finding an editing program that was compatible with canons weird .mt2s video format. the software it comes with does not work with vista at all so i spent several weeks looking and downloading different editing programs and the one that works best is Sony Vegas 8 Pro.

Most HD consumer cameras use AVCHD (.m2ts). But you are correct, not many programs support the format well. Only the better ones do.
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