Yet another camcorder advice thread. (1 Viewer)

Let's start with what I have.

Currently I own a Kowa 25X60 scope, with a tripod which is good for stability, but not very good for smooth movements. I have a Fuji 6800Z digital camera (3xzoom) which was very expensive when I bought it 5 years or so ago, but is nothing special now, and is unsuitable for digiscoping, due to not being SLR type, and because the lens moved during zooming. And my old Zeiss Jena 8x32 bins, but they are beside the point.

What I want is a good camcorder, partly for domestic use, but also for shooting wildlife, for memories and record, and to aid my rather rudimentary bird recognition.

I've learnt that this is not as straightforward as I naively thought when I started looking into it.

I'm thinking about this one http://www.cnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,39030763,49282471,00.htm
though it will stretch my budget.

The good points being lots of recording time, and a pretty good stills option, as well as 3ccd quality.

However, it only has 10x zoom, and the camera board I've also sought advice on advises against using any digital zoom (on the grounds that I could get better results zooming later on the computer).

I was wondering about getting this camcorder with a 2x (or 3x if I could find one) lens adaptor in the short term, then adding an Eagle Eye and one of those complicated and expensive supports (and a better tripod) for use with scope as funds permit. However, the lens of the camcorder looks pretty big in the pictures, so perhaps it won't work very well with the Eagle eye. It has 37mm filter screws.

If I got that gear, it would only really be useful for days out pretty much dedicated to wildlife, while the camcorder itself, with adaptor, could be used for targets of opportunity.

But then again, perhaps just getting a camcorder with a bigger zoom, with an adaptor, would give me a final mag something like what I see through my scope. I have learnt that 10x zoom for a camera is not the same thing as 10x bins - more like 7x.

But I can't find one with a hard disc (which seems a good idea to me) and 3 ccds with a good stills capability.

Living in Pembrokeshire, there is a paucity of shops where one can look at gear in action.

I don't want to make what would be for a poor man like me a very expensive mistake, so advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance

David

Hello,

Firstly I would say if you want a hard drive camcorder it may be worth waiting a while longer, as the technology is still being developed. The idea is fantastic and being lucky enough to have used a few they do work well. The problem is that JVC use a stock lens and the colour representation is not acurate. Reds are over saturated and colours bleed into each other. It is better on the model you have selected as this has 3 ccd's (one for red, green, blue) but you may find that on reviewing your footage that the bird looks rather different to what you remember.
The better hard disk camcorder is the sony DCR-SR90E, this does not have 3ccd's but has the advantage of a carl zeiss t*len that gives perfect colour represenation (yes I have used this one as well). If you search around you can find this unit for around £550. It also has a 3 mega pixel still, useful for quick snaps.
As to the zooms on these units only being 10X, the best option is as you suggest, either use a tele converter or an eagle eye unit. You can also get adaptors to use your scope as a zoom lens.
Personaly I use a canon 890 mini dv (tape) camcorder, which at only £190 is an excellent compromise. Canon lens quality, 22x optical zoom and enough options to cope with most situations. The only down side is the unit picks up alot of motor noise, sounds like a wasp in a glass. This can be overcome by adding an external microphone. You can still download to a computer by using a firewire cable, it just takes longer.
I hope this is of some use to you, and my last word of advice is if you see someone using a camcorder ask them about it, normaly people will be more than happy to show off their toy and will show you it working.

Issie said:

Hello,

Firstly I would say if you want a hard drive camcorder it may be worth waiting a while longer, as the technology is still being developed. The idea is fantastic and being lucky enough to have used a few they do work well. The problem is that JVC use a stock lens and the colour representation is not acurate. Reds are over saturated and colours bleed into each other. It is better on the model you have selected as this has 3 ccd's (one for red, green, blue) but you may find that on reviewing your footage that the bird looks rather different to what you remember.
The better hard disk camcorder is the sony DCR-SR90E, this does not have 3ccd's but has the advantage of a carl zeiss t*len that gives perfect colour represenation (yes I have used this one as well). If you search around you can find this unit for around £550. It also has a 3 mega pixel still, useful for quick snaps.
As to the zooms on these units only being 10X, the best option is as you suggest, either use a tele converter or an eagle eye unit. You can also get adaptors to use your scope as a zoom lens.
Personaly I use a canon 890 mini dv (tape) camcorder, which at only £190 is an excellent compromise. Canon lens quality, 22x optical zoom and enough options to cope with most situations. The only down side is the unit picks up alot of motor noise, sounds like a wasp in a glass. This can be overcome by adding an external microphone. You can still download to a computer by using a firewire cable, it just takes longer.
I hope this is of some use to you, and my last word of advice is if you see someone using a camcorder ask them about it, normaly people will be more than happy to show off their toy and will show you it working.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

It's been a bit of a surprise to me how few people seem to use camcorders vis a vis stills.

I'll have a look at the Sony online, and see how it looks, but I'm also thinking of putting things off to the new year, when I hear that Panasonic and perhaps others are going to have new models. And perhaps more competition will bring prices down a bit.

The JVC model seems to still be around the 680 mark.

Have you uses an Eagle Eye unit, and do you need a small lens on the camcorder when you use it to avoid - dammit I can't find the word - getting a circular image? ETA - Ah, it's come back to me. Vignetting,

Thanks again

David

Hi David,

I have a Sony PC-330E camcorder which has a 10x optical zoom lens and a 37mm filter thread. This I use with an Eagle Eye Digiscoping Eyepiece which equates to 12x on my scope. With this combination I can use most of the zoom range on the camcorder with very little vignetting. The only problem I have is around 8-9x zoom when the lens seems to vignette slightly.

Shooting even at the highest combined magnification, (120x), the resulting image is sharp although it loses a little contrast in poor light conditions. If I use about half the camcorder zoom the image quality is improved. Needless to say you need a sturdy tripod to avoid the enhanced camera shake caused by the high magnification.

Sandpiper