Fill This Need: Vlog Camera Review Site
Published by Jonny Goldstein on 5 Nov 2005 at 9:13 am.
14 Comments.
Filed under Vlog News.
One of the most common pleas for help on the Yahoo Videoblogging Group are for what camera to buy. This is a real need, as the turnover in models is swift, and yesterdays great camera may not be available today. I find myself in this position today, as I try to figure out what model to purchase for 150 teens in the Bronx who will be starting vlogs.
So please, I’m begging, somebody start a site which reviews cameras for bloggers. This would be so useful. I bet whoever did this would get a grocery cart full of free cameras from manufacturers. A site like this would also push camera companies to take vloggers into consideration.
Meanwhile, anyone know of a durable, rechargeable, still camera that shoots video and that is currently available and under 300$? If so, leave a comment below. C’mon, it’s for the youth. Thanks!
Bre Pettis on 5 Nov 2005 at 9:42 am: 1
I think this site should be the one to have more camera reviews.
I like my canon sd300, but it’s so small, it could get lost really easy. It was $311 from b and h with a 512meg card.
Jonny Goldstein on 5 Nov 2005 at 9:51 am: 2
Thanks Bre. A little competition never hurt. I say, let a thousand vlog cam reviews sites bloom! If we turn out to be the premiere site for this, that would be awesome. Meanwhile, please keep the recs coming. For the children.
Dave H. on 5 Nov 2005 at 11:20 am: 3
Re: Still camera that shoots video:
Many of my video blog posts like this one:
http://davemedia.blogspot.com/2005/09/vlog-post-new-toy.html
are shot with a Canon PowerShot. I have the S50 model from a couple of years ago. there are several models in this series with different features. It shoots video 320×240 at 15 fps and can shoot several minutes at a time. (.avi format)
It also takes great still photos:
http://iconville.net/photoblog/?image=050806_sibLings
and has a kicking macro setting:
http://watership.net/dave/macroblog/?image=050819_flyWaspy
I’m very happy with the camera. It is durable and has never given me a day of trouble. The mac recognizes it out of the box. I give it a high recommendation.
Clark Saturn on 5 Nov 2005 at 12:57 pm: 4
Yes, this site have more camera reviews, and with video hosted by a new site for uploading and hosting videos of educational value, product reviews, how tos, screencasts, etc. A central headquarters for media that teaches… More info coming this coming week!
Bre Pettis on 5 Nov 2005 at 2:27 pm: 5
Today I was inspired to get a gig card for my sd300 and get another battery. Now instead of recording at 320×240, I’m going to be recording at 640×480 with my little sd300!
Jonny Goldstein on 5 Nov 2005 at 2:48 pm: 6
This in from Ryanne:
my fav dig still cam is canon powershot sd200
rechargeable, 200$
great video
can import it right into imovie
i like comparing prices on yahoo shopping the best
http://tinyurl.com/8jp7e
Steve Garfield on 5 Nov 2005 at 8:12 pm: 7
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/
Michael on 5 Nov 2005 at 9:27 pm: 8
Shopathometv.com has a great 7mg still cam that shoots great video with a lot of editing options built into the camera. It is on stretch pay for the next 2 days at five monthy payments, you can get home and try it for less than 68.00, try it for 30 days and keep it if you like it or pay 4 more monthly payments of 59.99. Here is the link. It is the Samsung digimax V700 7 megapixal with bonus memory card.
http://www.shopathometv.com/shopathome/network/jshop/shopdev/product/detail.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1398303099.1131252895@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccciaddgdmgddglcefeceeedffjdfnj.0&n=0&OID=79076&catOID=-21041
lounger on 6 Nov 2005 at 12:39 am: 9
Hey Johnny; have a look here http://www.slashcam.com/ to get the best information about cameras. Try getting used dv cameras, pehaps via EBAY; don`t let the kids get frustrated with the low quality vids from still cameras. Rock on and good luck.
anders on 6 Nov 2005 at 4:13 am: 10
I’m on it
alexander on 6 Nov 2005 at 6:09 pm: 11
I have a canon ixus 50 with two 1 GB cards.Shoot 320×240 at 60 fps or 640×480 at 30 fps.This is a great point and shoot digital camera with excellent image quality for £215.
ben williams on 6 Nov 2005 at 9:39 pm: 12
ok Johnny I’m listening, My Podcast/vLog “Digital Media Tips and Tricks” deals with digital media and gadgets. I am going to the Portable Media Expo this weekend and NAB NYC next week if I meet any camera manufacturers i will be sure to press them on the issue… When i get back to new york and settle in about 2 weeks from now I will get right on it and press some of the manufactures to give me some cameras to review.
It really does not take much, I use a Sony TRV 320 Hi-8 digital camera. I believe it was the last year the Sony line up went with Hi-8. This camera is like 5 years old and it works like a charm still after much heavy use. It came with a firewire 4pin to 8 pin cable, 450 x zoom. It comes with a 4 hour battery and a charger cable. I’ve used it for major projects - I consider myself a prosumer. I have tested out DV midrange cameras above $500 from Sony and Samsung and they were great, I’ve never been fond of Cannon but if you find one with firewire capabilities it will do the trick as well. You should be able to go on the lower end and buy a sub $400 DV camcorder it should be more than sufficient…
And most important I have an insider tip….
I am going to review a product at the Portable Media Expo this week. Many of the vendors contacted me to get be reviewed.
This was part of the email ….
“The Flyboy is an ultra-slim MPEG-4 recorder allowing you to record up to 40 hours of video, store over 200,000 digital pictures or hold up to 740 hours of music on its 40 Gb hard drive and enjoy it all on the move. The Flyboy has a 3.5 inch LCD screen with built-in speakers. The internal USB allows Flyboy to receive files from another PC, or from a MediaREADY DVD/Internet Player (also from Video Without Boundaries). The Flyboy is competitively priced at $349.”
I have video footage of it now when I covered the Digital Life Expo but I really didnt get a chance to ask them enough questions, but I will be sure to do a full interview when I see them at the expo. I will put up the video footage to show you so keep an eye out I will get the scoop up on my vLog next week … I hope this helps
Terry on 7 Nov 2005 at 7:51 am: 13
If your not opposed to Sony, I use their Cyber-Shot P73 (not in production anymore), but the S60 is comparable: http://tinyurl.com/8c6h5
Insanely fast shutter speeds - video at 640×480 @ 30fps, that looks excellent shrunk down to 320×240 15fps - and it doesn’t get much attention, but the audio it captures is amazing. The first time I used it to get some footage of a seminar I was attending, I was blown away at how clear the sound was… totally unexpected. The one “issue” I have is the auto focus gets “wonky” in lower light situations — if you set it manually, it does well, but for it keeps defaulting back to auto focus when you turn it off and back on again. With a 1 gig Memory Stick I get about 21 minutes of video.
Jose on 7 Nov 2005 at 8:26 am: 14
Sony TRV 480, Cheap, Digital, can play Digital 8 or Hi 8, works great. Can shoot in 16×9, built in light, easy mode, etc., decent in low light, I use this in adition to PDX-10. After rebates you can get it for about 315.00 if you shop around, I’ve even seen it at 298.00. There is a TRV 280 version, cheaper but does not do Digital 8.