Noob, help me decide between a couple cameras

[aem]

Hi, I got into video editing at the end of last year. However I have no camcorder and only a 4 year old Sony digital camera without any optical zoom though it does do video.

So..I'm pretty limited right now. I just finished up making a couple videos for my first video contest and I just found another one I'd like to enter. However I found this late and I need to shoot some video this weekend. What I'd like is a fairly good camera capable of respectable 30fps video at VGA resolution or better for under $250 that I can pick up at a local store (Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Wal-Mart). After looking around it looks like I can get a camera with decent optical zoom so I'd rather avoid something with only 3 or 4x.

After doing a bit of research on cameras sold at Best Buy and Circuit City these seem to be my best options:

Canon PowerShot SX100 IS - $223
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Cano...92194/catOid/-13062/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Canon PowerShot A720-IS - $200
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7779701

Kodak EasyShare Z1285 - $180
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8828147

But I really am a complete camera noob so you tell me. Kodak's zoom isn't quite as high and the photo quality is probably a little lower but it does have higher res video.

I'm looking for:
- Portability (hopefully can fit in pants pocket, thats why I'm not looking at a camcorder right now)
- More optical zoom the better
- Good VGA video mode at 30fps or better, able to zoom
- <$250, less the better

Almost all the photos/videos will be put into videos I make and probably no larger than 600x450.

 

[hungryduck]

I've had lousy experiences with Kodak Easyshares - I'd go with one of the canons.

 

[lan]

I can't really answer which of these cameras is better but something of relevance is that photo cameras don't make good video cameras. On my Fuji and Nikon P&S, I cannot zoom while recording and the audio is either mono or low sample rate which isn't very good. I think you need to go into the stores and play with them. Stick a memory card in and try and record some footage if you can.

 

[orvil01]

Being a camera Noob myself ive been happy with my canon powershot s3 you can zoon while recording as well. Bt if your wanting to do video wouldn't a Cheap mini Dv camera or something work better. BTW i got my canon for 215$ shipped it was a factory refurb.

 

[aem]

Sorry to go against your advice hungryduck but I got the Kodak Easyshare Z1285 for this weekend. I'm also reluctant to be getting a Kodak Easyshare, but this is why I bought from Wal-Mart so if it sucks its going back to the store. Haven't tried taking pictures yet but I *think* the video is coming out ok.

I had planned to get the Cannon SX100 IS but went to Best Buy and ended up not getting anything a I saw a very small panasonic camcorder that was even smaller than the camera and only $300.

I did see that the battery life on that camcorder was only about 45 minutes though which isn't going to cut it. But it got me thinking if the Cannon was really best for me. I stopped at a Wal-Mart and they had a couple small camcorders that caught my eye: Sanyo Xacti CG6 and Aiptek Action HD 1080p. Heard good things about the Sanyo but its getting a bit outdated now..and the Aiptek looked good and I would have gotten that except for the fact I needed it that day and I needed to charge the battery 8 hours and it sounded like it might have compatibility issues with Sony Vegas which I use.

So trying the Kodak as it is significantly smaller than the Cannon and easy to carry around, does HD video, and seems to be created with both photo AND video at high priority while I think its just an afterthought for the Cannon's which are strictly made for taking photos as cameras are meant to. I can also swap AA batteries in and out so that makes things easier than the Aiptek.

I'll see how it does after I have time to take a good look at the stuff I'm shooting this weekend.

 

[Sean]

720 IS - Best of the three.

 

[jbailey]

I actually just bought an Aiptek A-HD+ last night.

It's surprisingly decent for the price paid (around $140, then bought a $44 8gb sd card). The regular picture quality is pretty good, and the video quality is good, as well, but the camera in general has issues in low light situations. The room needs to be well lit or you need to be outside for the video to look good.

It records directly to .mov format. The model I've got does 1080 @ 30fps, 720 @ 60 fps, 720 @ 30 fps, and 352 x 240 ("web format") @ 30 fps.

Playback works well directly from the player and does display at 30 and 60fps, but it's kind of quirky when playing the videos back on your PC. The 720 @ 60fps setting plays at 30 fps unless you install their HD-DV codec which is on the provided disc. So now the 720 video plays back at 60fps, but only in Windows Media Player. Playing the video in other players (tried Winamp and Quicktime) only shows the video at 30fps. It's really weird.

I use Sony Vegas for video editing, and it couldn't read the audio stream in the .mov files. What I had to do was export the video from Quicktime Pro into mp4, and then Vegas could read it, but I lost the 60 fps. Not sure how to get around that.

Other than that, it's pretty cool for just carrying around for quick video shots. It's extremely light, as expected. I've already got a nice digital camera (Canon S3 IS), so this definitely won't be taking its place for standard shots, but the Aiptek does hold its own.

In comparing video quality between the Canon S3 IS and the Aiptek A-HD+, I'd say the Canon has a better microphone and works much better in low light, but the audio always has some high pitched sound i the background, while the Aiptek has much better picture quality while in a setting with good lighting.