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Ask Engadget: Best video camera for $1000?
After burning the midnight question-answering oil with y'all last night, we're here for another session of Ask Engadget. To get your questions featured, hit up ask at engadget dawt com, and we'll pick the best for answering by your fellow readers. After dwelling on the topic of Anna's e-book conundrum last night, we're going after a much broader category today, with a question from Clancy:"I'm looking to buy a new video camera. I don't want a "home handycam," but similarly I don't have loads of money, therefore I want a camera good in low light good for shooting movies and short films (good/quick focus etc) but I only want to spend about $1000 US. I realize that for that sort of money I'm not going to get much but what would you suggest? I've been looking at the Panasonic PV-GS500, what do you think?"Lots of options out there. Clancy isn't going to get the pinnacle of cinematography for one grand, that's for sure, but we're betting he can find something passable at that price. Any suggestions?
DXG announces 5MP boringcam for the tweens
So, mommy and daddy are too cheap to spring for an AVCHD cam, what's an up-and-coming Spielberg to do? Snap up a DXG-506V, shoot those vids, and curse every minute of it. For $150 you can have your pick of a few different colored cameras, each with a 5.1 megapixel sensor and VGA 30 fps video recording. There's 32MB of built-in memory, along with an SD card slot to boost the minutes of crappy video or number of crappy pictures you can capture. The device also works as an MP3 player, voice recorder or webcam, and includes a 1.7-inch flip-out LCD screen, along with useless 4x digital zoom and 12 megapixel upsampling features. The 506V runs on three AAA batteries, and should be available now at major retailers.
ActionDVR's "PVR on the go" stores your life
Sure, there have been plenty of helmet-cams available to vanity videographers over the years, but few of them have represented such quality dorkiness as this ActionDVR system does to the everyman. The system is based on a fairly high quality 480p CCD, inside of an all-weather, clip-on camera module, which hooks up to a clip-on mic and the DVR unit. The 3.5-inch screen on the DVR allows for instant replay of your recordings, and the whole system is backed by roughly 8 hours of battery. ActionDVR's main market right now seems to be hunters and fisherman hoping to capture their exploits for posterity, but if we're lucky it'll catch on with the YouTubers -- giving us unwashed masses some of the best dang reality television we've ever seen. This setup can be yours for $1095, but the memories could be priceless.[Via PVR Wire]
Keian's KDV8900S MPEG-4 SD video recorder and MP3 player
Oh lookie, yet another low cost MPEG-4 video camera with MP3 player. While we're certainly not expecting this ¥19,800 (about $168) MPEG-4 shooter from Keian to deliver anything near the quality as the ¥50,000 (roughly $429) CG6, it's worth a peep for that price, eh? The KDV8900S (pictured) brings 32MB of on-board storage with a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor capable of shooting MPEG-4 recordings at 640x480 / 30fps onto SD card. The cam also snaps stills which can be previewed on the twist-and-fold, 2-inch display and throws in an MP3 player with built-in speaker and headphone jack just for fun. Also announced is its lesser, 3 megapixel KDV6800S cuz which attaches a larger 2.4-inch display but without MP3 playback for ¥16,980 or about $144. Don't worry, we wouldn't bore you with a picture of that one even if we could dig one up of decent quality. Both expected to launch in Japan on Wednesday.
More on JVC's high-definition Everio camcorder
We just babelfished a bit more information out of Japan this morning on JVC's new high definition Everio camcorder. JVC confirms that their hi-def HDD cam will feature a trio of 1/5-inch CCDs like their GZ-MG505 camera and will shoot 16:9 at 1080i like we had assumed. So if you need to shoot in 1080p and can afford it, well, you'll just have look elsewhere. The new Everio will also be the first to slap on a FUJINON lens presumed to bring a 10x optical zoom judging by the print 'round the ring. We expect to see some working prototypes on display at CREATEC Japan where more information will surely roll. [Via Impress]
Sanyo's Xacti CG6: like the C6, only better
Heya Xacti fans, Sanyo just upped the specs on the C6 digital camera and MPEG-4 video recorder with the introduction of the DMX-CG6. While the CG6 maintains the same 6 megapixel CCD, bumps come by way of the higher capacity SDHC card support, optical image stabilization, improved low-light capabilities, bigger 2.5-inch LCD, AAC audio recording, and a reduction in size from a tall and slim 68 × 23 × 108mm to a short and fat 67.7 × 34.5 × 100.3mm including about 10-grams of added heft. All the additions should make the CG6 even more awesomer once the reviews start to roll in. But if you need that Xacti video fix at more than 640 x 480 and 30fps, well, you know where to go, right? Available for about ¥50,000 (roughly $429) when they drop late November in Japan. [Via Impress]
Record your xtreem exploits with Elmo's SUV-Cam
If one of your stoner friends is planning on emulating something they might see in Jackass 2, and they'd rather not have a camera involved that happens to be as fragile as their spine, you might want to recommend the new SUV-Cam from Elmo. Not only is the camera unit waterproof, but it snakes away from the recorder unit for easier positioning and extra durability. The recorder features a 2.2-inch LCD and stores vids via SD card, but only boasts two hours of battery life, so we suppose Elmo figures you'll either be dead or worn-out by you xtreem tasks before you use all the juice. The best news is that the camera features a 440,000 pixel CCD, and records 25fps at a 704 x 480 resolution, so you won't have to trade off as much quality as usual to bring your camera to the action. Unfortunately, the SUV-Cam has a price to match its feature set: ¥88,900, about $761 USD. The device should be available (in Japan) on September 29th, so start planning your nefarious deeds accordingly.[Via Digital World Tokyo]
HDV showdown: Canon HV10 vs. Sony HC3
Sony's been doing this for a while, but Canon just finally jumped into the consumer HD game with their new HV10 HDV cam. To see how they well they've managed, David Pogue over at the New York Times got ahold of the camera and pitted it against Sony's latest: the HDR-HC3. He doesn't go so far as to name a victor, but the Canon does come out looking pretty good. With the recent bouts of HD-induced nausea consumers have been experiencing lately, Canon stuffed in an extra external auto-focusing sensor for near instant focus with quick camera moves. They also threw in some optical image stabilisation, and Pogue found both features quite effective. The HV10 also includes a built-in light, and better light sensitivity than Sony's HC3, but Sony does manage an accessory shoe, night shot mode and a quite notable HDMI port that are all lacking on the Canon. Both cameras suffer from a weak wide-angle view, and neither include microphone jacks or much else for the prosumer set, but with the HV10's list price of $1,300, and the $1,500 list-priced HC3 currently hitting $1,200 online, both cameras are quite the bargain for a tape-based HDV cam.[Via HD Beat]
Sanyo intros water-resistant Xacti CA6 still/video camera
Sanyo's introduced yet another entry in its catch-all line of Xacti digital cameras, the Xacti CA6, a fairly minor update to the C6. We're not sure what the "A" stands for, but the biggest addition to this model, apart from the new sporty colors, is its water-resistant casing -- although Sanyo's quick to cover its bases and point out that it isn't completely waterproof, so don't go all Jacques Cousteau with it. In terms of specs, however, the cam looks to be pretty much identical to the C6, packing a 5x optical zoom, 2-inch flip-out LCD, and taking 6 megapixel still pics and 30 fps VGA MPEG-4 video. Sanyo's also managed to knock a full $200 of the original list price of the C6, with the CA6 now coming in at a more reasonable $400 US. Look for it in August.[Via LetsGoDigital]
Creative announces DiVi CAM 525D
Creative's just announced the DiVi CAM 525D, a typical run of the mill digital video camera that also doubles as a 5 megapixel still camera. The pocket-sized camera will record MPEG-4 video at VGA resolution and 30 frames per second and uses SD cards for storage, maxing out at 2GB (it also has 32MB of built-in memory). The camera also packs a fair bit of PMP functionality, incuding realtime recording from any source via its audio/video inputs, and playback of MP3 and WAV audio and AVI video. And that 2.5-inch LCD should make playing back your video at least roughly as bearable as using an iPod. Price is $229 US but, like most things Creative, its only available in Singapore for now.
Kenko releases multi-colored DVC-306 camcorders
Japanese firm Kenko has just announced its DVC-306 camcorder, available in your choice of red, blue, or silver. Also doubling as a 3 megapixel digital still camera, it has the usual smallish 1.5-inch TFT but lacks a optical zoom, relegating it to the world of the irrepressiblylow end .The video quality doesn't seem so hot either shooting in MPEG-4 640x480 at 20fps, but at least you can record a lot of it -- up to 720 minutes on a 2GB SD card. The camera also has 32MB of built-in memory and MP3 playback capabilities. Price is ¥20,000 (about $170 US), but it looks like this is Japan-only, as far as we can tell, like most everything else today.
Pure Digital's Point & Shoot Video Camera
If you're not sure you want to spend $30 for one of those single-use video cameras -- with the prospect of spending another $13 for a 20 minute DVD of your footage -- but still would like to do some video on the cheap, Pure Digital is releasing a standalone version of their video camera for a mere $130. The new Point & Shoot Video Camcorder bumps video storage to 30 minutes, and includes a USB connector to offload video to your PC using included software that can email clips to friends and relatives. There's also a TV connector cable to watch clips straight off the camera, or you can always drop off the camera to have a DVD made, the difference being that you get the camera back this time. Now available at Target, the camera still isn't going to do much more than a decent digital camera or phone can pull off these days, but it doesn't seem a bad option for the tech-phobic or in risky situations you wouldn't want to stick your $1000 camera into.
Canon PowerShot S3 IS reviewed
Digital Camera Resource got their mits on the Canon PowerShot S3 IS recently and were kind enough to post a detailed review for our perusal. While the S3 isn't exactly "an exciting upgrade" over its S2 IS predecessor, the reviewer still found it to be an "excellent" ultra zoom camera. Besides the bump from 5 to 6 mexapixels, the camera's two most touted new features are ISO 800 sensitivity and 60fps QVGA / 30fps VGA recording. Well, the ISO 800 snaps shot under low light were found to be, er, "not usable" while those taken under normal light should be limited to 4x6 prints with the aid of some noise reduction software. However, the overall noise level was still considered "low for a 6 megapixel camera." Meanwhile, the video capabilities were found to be excellent due to stereo sound recording and the ability to zoom silently while filming. However, lacking an MPEG-4 codec means your flicks will hit the 1GB per recording wall in only 9-minutes under the highest quality settings. Overall, the camera earns the reviewer's "enthusiastic recommendation" due to its "very good photo quality" and "snappy performance" in a "solid and capable" ultra zoom camera.
