Best sub £500 GBP camera at DVinfo.net

James Strange · May 23rd, 2009, 02:58 PM

Hi guys,

a friend of mine is looking to get a camera for general familty/holiday stuff etc...

His budget is £500 (£750 usd approx) max, so the canon HV30 is out - as that goes for at least £600 not counting eBay.,

He's not too fussed about HDV vs avchd, not too fussed about HDD V tape V mem cards.

I had a quick look on the boards but coudn't find a similar thread so apologies if this has been asked before.

The only cameras in this area I have personal experience with the Sony HC-1, but thats a bit dated now.

As I understand it avchd is slightly less in quailty compared to HDV?

MY friend wont really be doing any editing, so thats not much of an issue.

So to recap, I'm looking for the best sub £500 ($750) HD camcorder.

Thanks in advance

James

Nick Gordon · May 26th, 2009, 01:38 AM

The recent Panasonics look very good, and I think some of them are below £500. Amazon have the HDC-SD20 for around £400, and it's had some good reviews.

Alternatively, a used HG10/HV30 would be a good bet.

Frankly, unless you're pro or semi-pro, I don't think the quality difference between AVCHD and HDV is material.

William Ellwood · July 9th, 2009, 04:05 PM

A chap who isn't doing any editing maybe should go for a mega-automatic everything ...

A friend showed me a low cost AVCHD cam which would suffice for holidays and family stuff etc - JVC GZ-HD10 40GB. It costs about £400.
- Canon LEGRIA HG20/HG21 - about £360 - £440.

It boils down to Canon, Panasonic and Sony for the safe bets. But there will be others that would be fine.

Dave Blackhurst · July 10th, 2009, 01:20 PM

Nothing wrong with AVCHD image quality vs. HDV... IMO the Sony AVCHD cameras "look" better than the earlier HDV offerings in the consumer space (the HC9 is now about two years "old", and even the HV40 is an updated HV20... no new HDV consumer cams on the horizon, and I doubt we'll see any) but you need a strong computer if you are intending to edit, or a good storage scheme to archive.

Buying used is probably a fairly safe bet on anything produced within the last couple years. Canons tend to resell at lower ratios to original price, and there's lots of pretty decent options there, Sony has some good cameras, and I think they released a CX100 that's new and in about the right price range - not a lot of manual control, but pretty good automatic function. Even the Sanyos seem to get good reviews, so lots of "options".

May 23rd, 2009, 02:58 PM	#1
James Strange Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Glasgow, Scotland, UK Posts: 309	Best sub £500 GBP camera Hi guys, a friend of mine is looking to get a camera for general familty/holiday stuff etc... His budget is £500 (£750 usd approx) max, so the canon HV30 is out - as that goes for at least £600 not counting eBay., He's not too fussed about HDV vs avchd, not too fussed about HDD V tape V mem cards. I had a quick look on the boards but coudn't find a similar thread so apologies if this has been asked before. The only cameras in this area I have personal experience with the Sony HC-1, but thats a bit dated now. As I understand it avchd is slightly less in quailty compared to HDV? MY friend wont really be doing any editing, so thats not much of an issue. So to recap, I'm looking for the best sub £500 ($750) HD camcorder. Thanks in advance James

July 9th, 2009, 04:05 PM	#3
William Ellwood Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Consett UK Posts: 110	A chap who isn't doing any editing maybe should go for a mega-automatic everything ... A friend showed me a low cost AVCHD cam which would suffice for holidays and family stuff etc - JVC GZ-HD10 40GB. It costs about £400. - Canon LEGRIA HG20/HG21 - about £360 - £440. It boils down to Canon, Panasonic and Sony for the safe bets. But there will be others that would be fine. __________________ Billy Ellwood is on Vimeo. Film club www.newcastleaca.co.uk i7 7700k, Asus z270f, 32gb ram, Windows 10, Premiere CS6.

May 26th, 2009, 01:38 AM	#2
Nick Gordon Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Milton Keynes, UK Posts: 166	The recent Panasonics look very good, and I think some of them are below £500. Amazon have the HDC-SD20 for around £400, and it's had some good reviews. Alternatively, a used HG10/HV30 would be a good bet. Frankly, unless you're pro or semi-pro, I don't think the quality difference between AVCHD and HDV is material.

July 10th, 2009, 01:20 PM	#4
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Nothing wrong with AVCHD image quality vs. HDV... IMO the Sony AVCHD cameras "look" better than the earlier HDV offerings in the consumer space (the HC9 is now about two years "old", and even the HV40 is an updated HV20... no new HDV consumer cams on the horizon, and I doubt we'll see any) but you need a strong computer if you are intending to edit, or a good storage scheme to archive. Buying used is probably a fairly safe bet on anything produced within the last couple years. Canons tend to resell at lower ratios to original price, and there's lots of pretty decent options there, Sony has some good cameras, and I think they released a CX100 that's new and in about the right price range - not a lot of manual control, but pretty good automatic function. Even the Sanyos seem to get good reviews, so lots of "options".