small size reliable good camera wich can handle fast movement movies with little ligh

[llintje]

Hi All,

Thanks in advance for your time and advice.

I am looking for a videocamera wich i can use on long term basis to film my dancing classes and party's. I'm as new as they come so i need the help haha.


At the moment when someone tapes for me it looks like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QshMDcEFBBQ so as crappy as possible haha.

And to give an impression of the things i want to be able to record you can check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up6rY...eature=related The movements are relatively slow here.

And the quality i want to reach is the quality of this clip when it is sharp. But then i want it to be sharp the entire time.

Other than that i want a durable camera that i can use for a couple of years the least. I don't mind if there are better cam's on the market by then. Also i want one with a good battery that stays good after using it often. And preferably easy to use and in a small size so it's easy to take with me.

For the price i want it to be as cheap as possible after all i'm still dutch
But i do want good quality with fast movements and very low light. So i will pay to get that.

Again thanks for the suggestions!

Oh Ps i have workshops the 10th of februari so i would like to have it by then.

[Skyman]

hmm, this is difficult. Most video cameras don't have fantastic low light performance. So to help you I am going to explain a little bit about how a video camera works so you can squeeze the best out of whatever you purchase.

Most cameras have a setting called gain which works simliar to iso on a still camera and is basically the sensitivity level of the sensor. however the more gain you add to brighten the shot, the more washed out and splotchy the shot appears (in the industry we call this gain grain) The other way a camera controls how much light hits its sensor is via aperture (many video cameras call this iris) and shutter speed - note that shutterspeed and frame rate are two different things but I will get to that later...

Aperture is effectively the tap and is listed in the camera specifications as an f then a number for example f5.6. opening the tap up (choosing a small fnumber like f2.8) increases the flow of light making the shot brighet. Closing the tap (often called stopping down with fvalues like f16 or f22) restricts the flow of light darkening the image. So I would be looking for a camera capable of a smaller f number. The trade off is however that a smaller f number will mean less of the shot is sharpely in focus.

Shutter speed is how long the tap is turned on. choosing a faster shutter speed means that moving opjects will appear sharper in the video, however this also reduced the amount of light hitting the sensor therefore darkening the image.

Some cameras these days offer variable frame rates this is not to be confused with shutter speed. frame rates are how many times a second the camera takes a "photograph" A higher frame rate means smoother action, however you have to be careful as choosing a faster frame rate can restrict the choice of shutter speeds available.

Dont get hung up on night vision modes, they typically either use so much gain that the video is unwatchable or film infra red light so that the shot has a green cast to it. Also I have seen some manufacturers claim there camera works at 0 lux. This would mean no light and it is physically impossible for any camera to produce a good video with no light, so it is marketing rubbish that can safely be ignored.

Typically opt for a camera that has a physically wide lens as this lets in more light.
Ideally choose one with at least an f2.8 lens. Pretty well all cameras have lithium ion batteries these days so apart from purchasing a longer life battery, if you look after it you should be ok, but why not use mains power? Your camera is going to be on a tripod I assume.

If you have a good camera store nearby go have a play with the cameras. If you can point them into a darkened corner of the shop even better. Failing that take a bag with something in it you can film to get an idea of how the camera performs in low light.

Since the videos are destined for you tube you should be able to save a lot of money by avoiding high definition cameras.

As for being a Dutchman, what does that have to do with anything? my father was born in Den Haag

[llintje]

hmm, this is difficult. Most video cameras don't have fantastic low light performance. So to help you I am going to explain a little bit about how a video camera works so you can squeeze the best out of whatever you purchase.

Most cameras have a setting called gain which works simliar to iso on a still camera and is basically the sensitivity level of the sensor. however the more gain you add to brighten the shot, the more washed out and splotchy the shot appears (in the industry we call this gain grain) The other way a camera controls how much light hits its sensor is via aperture (many video cameras call this iris) and shutter speed - note that shutterspeed and frame rate are two different things but I will get to that later...

Aperture is effectively the tap and is listed in the camera specifications as an f then a number for example f5.6. opening the tap up (choosing a small fnumber like f2.8) increases the flow of light making the shot brighet. Closing the tap (often called stopping down with fvalues like f16 or f22) restricts the flow of light darkening the image. So I would be looking for a camera capable of a smaller f number. The trade off is however that a smaller f number will mean less of the shot is sharpely in focus.

Shutter speed is how long the tap is turned on. choosing a faster shutter speed means that moving opjects will appear sharper in the video, however this also reduced the amount of light hitting the sensor therefore darkening the image.

Some cameras these days offer variable frame rates this is not to be confused with shutter speed. frame rates are how many times a second the camera takes a "photograph" A higher frame rate means smoother action, however you have to be careful as choosing a faster frame rate can restrict the choice of shutter speeds available.

Dont get hung up on night vision modes, they typically either use so much gain that the video is unwatchable or film infra red light so that the shot has a green cast to it. Also I have seen some manufacturers claim there camera works at 0 lux. This would mean no light and it is physically impossible for any camera to produce a good video with no light, so it is marketing rubbish that can safely be ignored.

Typically opt for a camera that has a physically wide lens as this lets in more light.
Ideally choose one with at least an f2.8 lens. Pretty well all cameras have lithium ion batteries these days so apart from purchasing a longer life battery, if you look after it you should be ok, but why not use mains power? Your camera is going to be on a tripod I assume.

If you have a good camera store nearby go have a play with the cameras. If you can point them into a darkened corner of the shop even better. Failing that take a bag with something in it you can film to get an idea of how the camera performs in low light.

Since the videos are destined for you tube you should be able to save a lot of money by avoiding high definition cameras.

As for being a Dutchman, what does that have to do with anything? my father was born in Den Haag

Thanks for the detailed info!!!!!!

I think i'll go for

http://store.kodak.com/store/ekconsu...ctID.156585800

It seems great.
Is there something i should look for when buying an sd card and an extra battery?

[llintje]

oh forgot to mention i am going to buy a marco and wide angle lens for it 2 but do you know what the diffrence is between a wide angle lens and a fisheye lens?

[Skyman]

A wide angle lens gives a more or less straight image. A fisheye lens gives an ultra wide image that is distorted (typically straight vertical lines will be curved) Most fisheye lenses will cover 180 degrees corner to corner although not all of them.

I would be very interested to see how that camera performs. When you pick get it, you might like to add a review to our reviews page (the link is in my signature below)

oh and welcome to the forums I hope you can stick around and share some of your experiences.

Simon