Video Camera Feedback

[LoveBigRacks]

Guys,
I'm looking to purchase a smaller handheld digital video camera not really for hunting purposes but moreso just to capture life moments. I have a son who plays baseball, football, and basketball and would like to be able to film some of his sporting events. We also spend a fair amount of time outdoors, hutning, camping, fishing, etc. I'm not looking to spend a few thousand on the best video camera on the market but rather something middle of the road, less than $1K, easy to maintain/operate/upload videos, and fairly small / portable. I do however want it to be tri-pod compatible. Just curious if anyone has a camera they have had good success with and enjoy, or any warnings of those to stay away from..

An average zoom would be nice, I don't need anything super long distance. Batery life also important.

Any feedback appreciated!

LBR

 

[c3]

Any of the new consumer camcorders will do quite nicely these days.

I have a Panasonic TM700. It's incredible for a pocket size cam. Here's a video of all the bulls I filmed on my San Juan hunt last year with it! [

The newer TM750 and TM900 are almost identical. They recored in 1080/60p and have much finer motion, sharpness and color than older 1080/60i cams IMHO.

The Sony CX700v and CX560v both shoot a similar 1080/60p video that can now be played as files burned on DVD or Blu-Ray disk on the latest generation of Sony BD players. These Sony players will also work for Panasonic 1080/60p files.

Canon and JVC both still use 1080/60i and I can't stand the motion jaggies that format of HD video produces. Some people don't notice it so YMMV. Both make great cams and Canon's HF- G10, top of the line one is probably the best of all in very low light.

You can see reviews and rankings of all these cams here [http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php]

Any way you go you won't be sorry. These things are awesome for the type of work you want to do with them.

Cheers,
Pete