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Sony Handycam HDR-XR105E
by stripeycamel
I use this professionally to record lectures and find it does the job perfectly! Sturdy, great picture, holds its battery life well. A formidable zoom allows me to film things without getting in anyone's way. Have accidentally dropped it a few times and it has pulled through - what a trooper. Lasted a good few years now. Recommended. ... Great lens and a nice big, adjustable display screen, meaning it is easy to use and adjust. The zoom function is perhaps not quite as smooth as I would like, and if you zoom in it can sometimes jerk a bit too begin with. Easy to use, compact, easy to carry around. One problem I have found, however, is a glitch that means the camera takes random photos while filming. This is odd but in no way disrupts the filming process or damages the final video. Bit strange, but should not put you off!
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Panasonic HDC-SD900
by headsore
I am a big fan of Panasonic equipment. I have owned quite a few things from the Panasonic range and it is a brand I trust and feel I can rely on. For this reason, whenever I am looking for a new piece of kit that is electrical, I always find myself looking towards the Panasonic range first and foremost. It was for this very reason ... that my camera I decided long before I bought it was also going to be a Panasonic. After looking up a few different models I finally decided on the Panasonic HDC-SD900.
This fantastic handheld digital camcorder retails at around the £500 plus mark but I got mine for £449 from Ebay. This particular model appealed to me as it has high definition screen, which is what I was after, it also has 3.05 megapixels and the difference from non high definition cameras is really remarkable. It also has an impressive 12x optical zoom. The quality of this camera is brilliant and I am more than pleased with it and the quality of the output.
The picture qulaity is second to none, as is the sound quality. It is so simple and easy to use and navigate and it barely needs the instruction manual as it's all quite self-explanatory. The remote control can be a little fiddly and I find I have to press down quite forcibly on the buttons and direct it EXACTLY at the screen, but this aside, I can find no fault with the device at all.
The camcorder has some brilliant features, considering the price and they are really impressive. There is an optical zoom which is of excellent quality and also the option of a twelve time focus. Last time we used this was for a major family holiday to the States and it was never out of my hand. As it has an impressive memory size it was also very easy to transfer all of our family photos and videos onto our HD TV. Once back from our holidays we sat around our TV and were not only able to watch our videos of our holiday but it was easy to set it up to show a slide show of photographs too, which the little lad loved. I also like the fact that the battery in this camcorder seems to last for ages but if it does run down it's simple and easy to charge. I did, however, also purchase at a later date, a charger for the car lighter and I found this a useful additional device.
This camcorder also has a motion sensor detector, which I personally find quite an appealing feature, but using this unfortunately does slightly lessen the quality to 2.53 megapixels and a three times zoom (when in motion), however, I think this is to be expected, really.
Overall, I cannot really fault this camera at all. We have used it a lot since we have bought it and not just for family holidays, but for weddings and days out etc. It is light and portable and easy to transport around with me. The carrying strap comes in handy too, or course. I thoroughly recommend it and have nothing negative to say about it.
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Pure Digital Flip UltraHD
by Bullydc1
I recently went on holiday to Australia with my partner, I went over there for almost a month to see my sister get married and see my 2 nieces. I wanted to get something to take along a record my time with my nieces over and above that of my standard compact digital camera. I tend to do allot of physical activities on holiday and I ... needed something cheap (so that if it broke I wouldnt be bothered), fairly robust and can be used quick and easily. My parents saw the flip advertised on QVC and suggested I use that.
Dont blame me:
Now a caveat, im not saying that this camera is suitable for everyone, I understood that I would be using this as a one time only thing and I didnt need to have anything fancy. So this may not be for everyone.
In summary- This Camera is great for those people that do not want anything to complicated, too fiddly and do not necessarily care about effects or great amounts of zoom. The trade off for the simplicity and ease of use of this camera is the fact that the picture quality is OK, other more expensive cameras will have better quality, and the most telling factor is that the zoom is pretty lame. It only goes to x4. But on the other side the price is pretty cheap too at £120 on Amazon, but I reakon on QVC you can get it for as much as £90, so keep you eyes peeled.
The cost:
For £90-£120 quid, you get 2 hrs and 8Mb of memory, fairly good visuals , but no effects whatsoever. The sound is quite good, you will be able to pick up most things. But im sure if you get a Sony or Panasonic camcorder it will be much better...you will pay the price though.
The good things:
The advantage here is that the case is rebust, its so easy to use with a simple 4 way cursor, no digital menus, everything is very manual and quick. You have a recorder start stop button in the middle, a big red button, the usb adaptor is inbuilt to the side and flips up with a spring loaded action, so you cant lose the lead. Its easy to zoom, you just press + or - on the cursor. There is also a lock/unlock button to get to the battery pack, which has rechargeble AA batteries included in a central battery unit.
The problems:
My critisisms are that the zoom is pretty weak, you will not get much detail and I really felt this when filming the fireworks at Sydney Harbour. But the colours and sound was very good and the music being played over the tannoy came out rather well, the bass wasnt blurby as you sometimes get.
My only other critisism is that the battery pack doesnt last as long as the memory. I`d say depending on how you use it the battery will only last an hour, so you will have to charge it before the memory runs out. When we were away we had no laptop so had to use my sisters laptop, If you dont have this capability then it could be a problem. You might be able tosolve this problem by getting better rechargeble batteries and putting them into ther battery pack. However, I havent been able to try this yet.
So Id honestly say get this camera if you hate the way modern technology seems to make life harder then it needs to be, but you want to film stuff. If you want better then average quality and are willing to pay the price for that, then you might want to get another camcorder. But as this camera is marketed on its simplicity, it certainly cannot be blamed for misrepresentation.
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