Armed & Dangerous - -

For the past month or so I have been on the hunt for a GOOD HD Camcorder that was reasonably priced [as in under 400 dollars], and delivered great results. I have really put off making anymore video's until I got a better quality camcorder [I was using my macbook] as the quality was grainy, and just all around bad.

After trying and returning numerous camcorder's, I finally found a winner! My new CANON Powershot Camera w/HD Camcorder is everything I could ever ask for. It gives me the capability to play around with light settings, which is perfect for filming in low-light environments like my apt, and the kicker is that the video's will be filmed in true HD. Granted I now have two camera's, [the Nikon D60, & the Canon] but I will be using one solely for photography, and one for HD vids.

Here are the cliff notes from my recent camera debacle:

My experience with all of the SD Samsung's, Canon's & JVC Camcorder's [SD meaning Standard Definition] -

• When filming in optimal lighting, the quality is so-so. 

• The quality of the picture goes down drastically in low-light shooting, which is really important if you shoot in the house with regular lights/lamps.

•  If you plan on uploading your movies to a website like YouTube, or Vimeo, you can expect to lose some quality. [That is with any camcorder, which is why it is important to start off with the best quality your money can afford]. 

• Even if you do use daylight/florescent bulbs to try to improve the lighting conditions, more than likely the subject will be overexposed. [I experienced this]

         My experience with FLIP Camcorder's [Pocket-Sized HD Camcorders]

• These are only good for close up shots only - Some are equipped with zoom, but the quality suffers greatly the further away you are from your subject.  

• The lens is significantly smaller than most camcorders, meaning that you are only going to be able to fit so much in the frame.  

• You can't really manipulate the lighting settings [for example, daylight shooting, tungsten, night etc] 

          My Experience with the Sony Cyber-Shot 9.1 Megapixel Camera

• I absolutely loved this! It offers a High Definition camcorder with lighting options.  

• The quality on the camera is wonderful, if you plan on using that as well. I wasn't really concerned about the camera quality so much as I was the video. 

• The only drawback for me was the price $479.99 - And my new found friend at Best Buy in Burbank, [Hi Levon!] told me that Canon's video quality was a lot better than the Sony due to the quality of the Canon lens. At that point it was a no-brainer, as the Canon was $100 cheaper, and offered better quality video.

A few words of advice; shop around and don't be afraid to utilize the no-hassle return policy. Get advice from stores like Best Buy who don't work on commission, as this allows them to be honest when giving their opinion on what to buy.

Did you know they also make tripods/minopods that can stick on to a mirror, as in a bathroom mirror?? YES!