Video Recording Hunts

nmmuley · Mar 31, 2009

Hey all,

It seems like after 1 out of every 3 hunts I go on, I always end up saying to my hunting partner, "I wish we would have been videotaping this hunt!". I have been saving up the last few months for a camcorder and would like to keep the cost to less than $1,000. These recorded hunts would be mostly for my personal memories and to share with hunting buddies and forums like this, so I am not looking for high dollar tv/production quality equipment. Do any of you guys record your hunts? If so, any recommendations on brands, options, etc that might help me narrow down my search? I have been looking at the new Sony HandiCam's and they look compact, light, and loaded with features. As always, any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

antlerrick · Mar 31, 2009

There are as many options as there will be opinions. I have taped hunts with a small, inexpensive camera, up to an expensive, quality camera. There are pros and cons with each. If you want to keep it small, find one you can put in your pocket. If you need super quality, you may have to go with a little bit bigger camera. Another thing you have to consider is what kind of media you want to record onto. Mini DV's are very popular, but now you can record onto a hard drive or onto a disk directly. I was given a hybrid this year made by Toshiba and so far I really like it. It has a quality lense and I can record to the hard drive or a disk. I have a GL2 camera that I really like but the size is a concern at times. I also have a couple smaller mini dv camera and really enjoy them too. They can all take good video, some better than others, but if it is for yourself for home videos, any will work....
Good luck...

AWHOLELOTTABULL · Mar 31, 2009

Like Rick said, there will be a lot of opinions out there. I also shoot with a GL2 but have a big XL1s too. I bought my wife a Canon mini DV camera about 2 months ago. The cost was right $600 and it has a 3CCD lense with a 20x Optical Zoom. I was threatened with my life if I even thought about taking it hunting. It fits in the palm of your hand. If I can give you any suggestions....no matter what camera you get buy a good tripod. That will make the biggest difference. Good luck.

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com

zboys · Mar 31, 2009

Look at the sony hard drive with the 40 or 60 power optical zoom.
I have videoed last two years of my son shooting his deer and a couple of other kill shots. You can see the bullet flying through the air on more then one kill shot. You do need a tripod to get decent video. 3 kill seens between 300 and 420 yards. around 400$

west · Mar 31, 2009

dont' know what to tell you on a camera. I just use a little sony the wife got me for christmas a few years back. The one thing i will offer is..Invest in a monopod. i have found that it does wonders in helping keep things a little more stable for the shot, and keeps it easy to pan the camera with out much jolting

Basin_Bucks · Apr 1, 2009

I Use A JVC With The HD Card this camcorder fits into the palm of my hand and is VERY easy to travel with.. this really holds a lot of video as well as conserves battery life a lot better than the mini disk camcorders. there are a lot less moving parts to run and that prolongs battery life.. i will carry two batteries in the field and just one 8GB HD card that will record 10 hours of footage easily and you simply dump the footage onto your P.C. and can do what you like with it from there.. i purchased this on sale the day after christmas and got a killer deal at 350.00 that included two batteries and the HD card as well as a case for it all...

antlerrick · Apr 1, 2009

I also agree with the comments about a tripod!
The best camera won't take good footage if you are flopping and weaving the camera around while trying to video.
Any camera will do a good job if on a tripod...
Probably just as important as the camera!

bobby7321 · Apr 1, 2009

I like the canon HD camcorders. pretty much all of them are under 1000. You can pick up the HV20 for 400-500 and its an awesome camera (records to dv tapes). How do you plan to edit the footage? The cameras that record to hard drive or card are definitely more easy to deal with as far as transfering footage to computer. But DV Tapes give you a physical archive of the footage, so there are pros and cons to both systems. But the HV20 is a great camera for cheap.

AWHOLELOTTABULL · Apr 1, 2009

The Canon HV20 is the one I was talking about. It is HD and has the 3CCD lenses. I thought it was a little bit more than that but with tax it was probably close to $600. Great camera and small.

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com

nmmuley · Apr 2, 2009

Thanks for all the info! After doing some further research I am getting hung up on really understanding the difference between formats. Does anyone have any suggestions on the pros and cons related to HDV and AVCHD formats? Also, am i correct in that all camcorders that compress in HDV only record to miniDV tapes? Sorry for all the questions, but I went to my local bestbuy and they really couldnt help answer my questions.

Basin_Bucks · Apr 2, 2009

As SAid Earlier In this POst I Would Steer Clear of the dv mini disks and the mini tapes, reason being that there is a great deal more moving parts inside the recorder and that will drain your batteries very fast, also when using the HD cards they have a lot more space to record on, less moving parts inside the unit which doubles battery life and HD cards can be uploaded into your computer with a USB cord and burned to a disk at that time or simply stored into your computer.. Disk ANd Tape Recorders IMO are Obscelte These Days...

Wiszard · Apr 2, 2009

I just bought a little flash memory recorder for videoing the kids and thier sporting events and such. It cost about $280. The video is stored on a card and I can download the video to my computer and then put it on a DVD. It fits nicely in my hand...it's very small and lightweight. I had been using a tape recorder which I bought about 8 years ago and the smaller the better in my opinion when on a stalk. I have not used a monopod or tripod but would recommend it. Sometimes when videoing it gets a little shaky.

Steve

htnfool · Apr 2, 2009

Lots of great info here!

I just have to throw this out. I have a Sony Handycam with 40x optical zoom (you want optical zoom, not digital). 40GB hard drive with about 27 hours of recording time on it. No Disks, tapes or moving parts. Very easy to view on the user friendly mini-screen or USB cable to the tv or computer. It is small, about 5" long x 4" high x 4" wide and fits in a backpack or fanny pack pocket very nicely. It has picture capabilties that are fine, but not great, I think it's somewhere in the 250 kb range. This Sony runs in the $500 dollar range. It, like most handhelds, is somewhat fragile. It doesn't like to be frozen (the screen will shatter) and it doesn't like being dropped, while in the backpack, on rocks to pull out you spotting scope. These things lead to a short life expectancy. I have done both of these things to previous models, makes sense not to do those things anyways.

I will note that this is the 5th, count'em 5 previous handhelds that I have owned and this one is far superior to all the others. I hunt hard and my equipment has got to be tough. This little guy has taken a beating and still not shown any problems. I am positive that not having to open and close it constantly to put in a disk or tape has no doubt helped with it's longevity. Dust will ruin these guys. This unit is an enclosed outfit, except for the viewing screen which swings open like all the others.

I would give this unit a B+. It only lacks better picture quality for me.

Happy hunting

As far as your latest question, it's beyond my knowledge.