Good camcorder to record a live concert

[nomadh]

Wasn't sure if this was the best place but I thought I'd try in here. I'm looking at a few digital camcorders in the $250 range. It will be for general family use first but I'd also like to be able to use it to record my kids school concerts and my rock band practices and gigs. I figure for this it should have some low light recording ability and be able to record at loud sound levels. Other features are: Something above 30x or so optical zoom. Digital memory and SD card media preferred.
The canon fs200 seems like a good candidate. It has the ext mic capability although I'd be happiest if the int mic could do the job functionally. Its 37 or 41x depending on revue. Its SD and has decent battery life. The down side is replacement batterys seem expensive and hard to find. Unimpressive image stabilization
The main contender I'm finding is the panosonic SDR-S26. It has 70x zoom with amazing image stabilization. Never had a zoom that good so I'm not too sure of how often I'd use it over 40x but it sure is cool. Cheap batteries and uses sd.
Down side is short batterylife.
How would you compare these 2 units general use video quality and if roughly similar how do they compare in low light when used at a kids school concert or a rock concert. Does either model have some way to adjust audio input levels and is that likely to help on loud sounds? And how usable will the panosonics 70x be at low light levels and how does that influence its ability.
I'm also open to JVC or samsung but they seem to review as lesser quality. I could consider a sony although their mem stick memory just really irritates me as a general principle. I could be talked into going to about $300 if it were to get me a big step up in my wanted features.
Are there any opinions on what is best or any options or models/brands I've missed.
Thanks for any help

[clydekincaid]

hello,
i can only give advice about a samsung camcorder.it was like$200.00 and some change.i bought it because it was youtube ready,well the software"cybermedia"that comes with it is a nice touch,but i am having problems with the audio not being in sync with the performance.maybe it is just software related or it is the camera/that is my two cents,i hope it helped.

[BlueStrat]

Looky here:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/07/20...ideo-recorder/

[guitarsjb]

I have the Canon FS10 and love it.

[tacdryver]

I have a youtube vid that I did myself...quite an education....

Sound has to be recorded separately, through a mixer or something...camcorder microphone doesn't get it done...

Resolution IMHO has to be as good as you can get it....especialy if it's a dark stage/bar thing...low light capability...

[mfergel]

I'm looking into getting the Zoom Q3, primarily because of the audio capabilities. It's based on the audio of the H4.

http://www.samsontech.com/products/p...fm?prodID=2020

[wheresgrant3]

I've been videotaping shows for quite some time. All I have is a Panasonic GS35 (Mini DV) and a Flip Ultra 1GB. All I really do is pull and post video on You Tube or other services (I'm not making DVD's). I have to say I'm consistently impressed with the Flip for cheap, You Tube ready, video. It only stores 1 Hour of video on 1 GB flash memory (best for snippets), but the quality in low light and sound quality is great for the price. $129 on Amazon. Avoid the more expensive Flip Mineo, that has a built in battery. The cheaper Ultra uses AA batteries but has a less sensitive mic (the Mineo tends to distort with large db's.)


Here's a nice clip of the Flip moving thru the crowd, and on stage. Imppressive video for a $130 video camera that's the size of a point and shoot digital camera.

Flip Ultra #1

Another angle about 20 ft from the stage.
Flip Ultra #2


In contrast here's my 1 CCD Panasonic Mini DV GS35 (I bought 4 years ago for $500). The video looks washed out and there is barely any improvement with sound.

Mini DV camcorder

The Zoom Q3 has me intrigued... but until I see the camera in low light situations I doubt I'd spent the money right now.

[mfergel]

Originally Posted by wheresgrant3

I've been videotaping shows for quite some time. All I have is a Panasonic GS35 (Mini DV) and a Flip Ultra 1GB. All I really do is pull and post video on You Tube or other services (I'm not making DVD's). I have to say I'm consistently impressed with the Flip for cheap, You Tube ready, video. It only stores 1 Hour of video on 1 GB flash memory (best for snippets), but the quality in low light and sound quality is great for the price. $129 on Amazon. Avoid the more expensive Flip Mineo, that has a built in battery. The cheaper Ultra uses AA batteries but has a less sensitive mic (the Mineo tends to distort with large db's.)


Here's a nice clip of the Flip moving thru the crowd, and on stage. Imppressive video for a $130 video camera that's the size of a point and shoot digital camera.

Flip Ultra #1

Another angle about 20 ft from the stage.
Flip Ultra #2


In contrast here's my 1 CCD Panasonic Mini DV GS35 (I bought 4 years ago for $500). The video looks washed out and there is barely any improvement with sound.

Mini DV camcorder

The Zoom Q3 has me intrigued... but until I see the camera in low light situations I doubt I'd spent the money right now.

The low light situation is a good point that I hadn't thought about.

The guy at sam ash was willing to let me crank the pa system up at the store and record with it at various areas to get an idea of how it is with the sound. Unfortuanately with something like that they have an exchange policy only, so it's not like I can exchange it for another digital video recorder there if it doesn't work out for me.

[TrickyBoy]

Originally Posted by wheresgrant3

I've been videotaping shows for quite some time. All I have is a Panasonic GS35 (Mini DV) and a Flip Ultra 1GB. All I really do is pull and post video on You Tube or other services (I'm not making DVD's). I have to say I'm consistently impressed with the Flip for cheap, You Tube ready, video. It only stores 1 Hour of video on 1 GB flash memory (best for snippets), but the quality in low light and sound quality is great for the price. $129 on Amazon. Avoid the more expensive Flip Mineo, that has a built in battery. The cheaper Ultra uses AA batteries but has a less sensitive mic (the Mineo tends to distort with large db's.)


Here's a nice clip of the Flip moving thru the crowd, and on stage. Imppressive video for a $130 video camera that's the size of a point and shoot digital camera.

Flip Ultra #1

Another angle about 20 ft from the stage.
Flip Ultra #2


In contrast here's my 1 CCD Panasonic Mini DV GS35 (I bought 4 years ago for $500). The video looks washed out and there is barely any improvement with sound.

Mini DV camcorder

The Zoom Q3 has me intrigued... but until I see the camera in low light situations I doubt I'd spent the money right now.

I have 5 videos posted on our website http://www.thetrickydickies.com/video-footage.html that I took with the new HD Flip Camera (still takes AA batteries)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Flip+Vid...&skuId=9281984

I'm not making a professional video, but for the money (I found it on sale for $160) I don't know how you can beat it. I was really impressed with the sound quality for such an inexpensive camera.