Cheap camera suitable for loud rock gigs. Low light.

[hazestudios]

Hi there,

I'm interested in purchasing a cheap video camera for the purpose of filming my bands gigs. Purely for personal use, not distribution.

Something suitable for low light with some sort of input level adjustment or inbuilt compressor.

Any recommendations? I've been looking at the Canon MD225 or Sony HCR-DC52, but not sure how they'll go sound wise.

Many thanks, :thumbsup:

Mike

[dumpy]

Sound will really suck on most of them (and just suck on the rest) unless you can get something with an external audio input. In which case you will want to take the output of the board, which will require at minimum converting the line level signal to mic level and could also require a balanced to unbalanced converter. Purchasing a better, external cold shoe mount mic is always on option too.

You could always record the audio on dat/minidisc/hared drive and mix it with the video later.

Also, stay as far away from DVD camcorders as you can, IMHO they are one of the dumbest inventions ever, right up there with crystal pepsi. You can only record for 23 minutes, have to buy one time use dvd's and it's tougher to make edit/copies if need be. Personally I'd go for something with a hard drive or MiniDV tapes, but MiniDV can only do an hour, or 90 minutes at lower quality, but the tapes are reusable.

[hazestudios]

thanks heaps for that.

Yeah I was pretty clear I'll be sticking to Mini DV in the lower end. I've heard some great sound in slightly more expensive cameras... we'll see.