Hi guys,
As a complementary item for my travel adventures at the end of the year I've been looking around for a decent travel camcorder. I've been inclined to purchase any of the Sanyo Xacti models but would like to widen my scope a little and hopefully you guys could help me find a place that offers cheap prices for camcorder models. Any recommendations for products as well as what places to purchase these from would be great! Don't mind if it's OS either.
Cheers,
Kan
My mate has a xacti….he's pretty happy with it.
If you don't want any bells and whistles (like useable zoom!!)
http://www.oo.com.au/Kodak_Zx1_HD_Digital_Pocket_Vi_P28460C1…
very compact and pretty rugged, fits in a pocket, takes reasonable video and pretty cheap, (although a refurb). I have one and it's good for just keeping in the pocket for those ad hoc moments.
Fo a cheap camera, I also recommend the sanyo xacti. I have the underwater model and its great.. I wash it in the kitchen sink, so yu don need to be scared about geting itn sand, on top of greasy food, etc.. just wash it in the kitchen sink.. while its on :) The only bad thing is.. as you would expect from a relatively cheap camera is the image is not great. When used outside, the video quality compares to my canon mv, however indoors or in conditions where its not that sunny, the quality seems to drop.
One thing though you need to ask.. is would you prefer a video that is a bit less quality, or no video at all? I had the cannon for a number of years, but was very rarely used because batteries lasted only 30 mins, had to be careful where you used it, not to get it dirty, wet, etc.. Whin the sanyo, batteries last hours, dont care if it gets dirty, so end up using it much much more.. cant even remember the last time i used the cannon, but the sanyo used only yesterday..
Sounds like the general consensus seems to be falling with the Sanyo Xacti! I've been trying to wrap my head around it but does anyone know what the most recent and best model for the Xacti is with waterproof features too? If so, how much am I looking at? Thanks for the recommendations guys!
I have the 8 Megapixel version, however the latest one seems to be Sanyo Dual Camera Xacti WH1, which is more of a traditional looking video camera then the one i have, but it does HD video as well, where mine does not. Please note its not FULL HD.. only HD.. Should be able to get it between $300-$400.. which is excellent price.. Would like to see the video shots in low light conditions..
Brilliant! Cheers tsandu, though would you happen to know if there are any dramatic differences with that and previous models? Because if it's nothing practical for travel purposes and the price seems to be dramatically lower then I may be looking for an older model. Thanks!
I purchased a Flip UltraHD before a recent trip to South America. It shoots 720p HD video.
I purchased it from here http://www.videopro.com.au/p-275-flip-video-flip-ultrahd-u21…
Pros: It is a great travel camera as it is a similar size to a mobile phone and easily fits in your pocket. It is inconspicuous and does not look like an expensive camera. People are also not as shy in front of it because it does not look too intimidating. It also has a flip out USB connection and the camera has built in software so you can easily upload videos to youtube or a travel blog on the move. I can have it out of my pocket and filming in about 2 seconds which is great for capturing spontaneous moments. You can also buy an underwater housing for it which I plan on doing shortly.
Cons: The camera does not have any image stabilisation so images are quite shaky when filming from a moving car etc. There is no optical zoom, the digital zoom looks bad and just emphasizes the lack of image stabilisation.
If you have the budget and dont mind carrying a camera around then I would go for something with a decent optical zoom and image stabilisation. Make sure you also get one that has good low light performance.