any camcorder can capture decent video (including daylight). Different ranges - grades - of camcorders have different definition of what is "bright enough". If natural lighting conditions are not good enough for the particular camcorder, you already know to add light. At that point, it does not mater that the area being captured to video is dark. We assume that the camcorder and the light are close enough to the item being inspected that the lighting is still "good enough".
For example, with any video light and camcorder, being anywhere from 4-8 feet away from the subject being recorded should provide acceptable results. Being further away than that will likely result in graininess at the low end and mid-priced range of consumer camcorders.
As camcorders costs go up, the lenses and imaging chips get bigger. Skip the pocket cams... The low end of the consumer cam range will have a 30mm lens filter diameter and a single imaging chip around 1/6". As you move toward the higher-end, the mid range lenses are at the 37mm-40mm mark and the single imaging chip can get to 1/3". Get to the high end of the consumer cams and the lens filter diameter hits 58mm with the 1/3" to 1/2" single imaging chip. You will also notice the desirable manual controls migrating from being only menu addressable to being on the outside of the camcorder.
Since you are not requiring fast action capture, you do not need to worry about the negative impacts of high compression. And as different staff will be using the camera, manual controls on the outside of the camcorder requiring training are not needed. But the captured video does need to have resolution good enough to see pretty detailed stuff. At this point, I *think* you should stick with high definition video - whether digital tape or flash memory is something you can consider.
There is no camcorder that comes with a battery in the box that will provide what you want - but all the manufacturers have available optional high capacity rechargeable batteries that can.
It might be tempting to get a hard disc drive battery because the large discs can store a lot of video. I suggest not using this media - flash memory or digital tape may be better options. If the last person to use the camcorder has not off-loaded the video and the hard drive fills, being on sit is not a good place to find that out. With removable media, it is the responsibility of the person capturing the video to be sure there is enough available media for the task - and the video can be filed in the "project folder". Now the question of flash memory or miniDV tape...
We've discussed "archive" methods here before, but will leave the door open to discuss them again if you need it. Just try to think through how long the video needs to be available and the various expenses of RAID1 arrays vs inexpensive digital tape (or 4 tapes for 4 hours). Flash memory is not a good, stable, "archive" media.
The person using the camcorder should make every effort to use a tripod or other steadying device. Even a chair, wall, rock or table is sufficient. Worst case would be to use a shoulder-mount.
If the selected camcorder does not have an accessory shoe to mount a video light, it is easy enough to "add" an accessory shoe with a camera bracket.
Anything can be "not so easy" when one has not done it before or is not using the correct tools for the task.
MiniDV tape camcorders connect the DV port (not USB) to the firewire port (not USB) on a computer with a firewire cable (not USB). Launch the HDV-capable video editor; have the HDV camcorder in Play mode; Capture or Import the video. Remove the tape, lock the tape - it is the archive. Very easy. Importing is real time. 4 hours of captured video will take 4 hours to import. Potentially tedious, but certainly nothing "difficult". 60 minute miniDV tapes run about $3.25 each or less in quantities (check tapestockonline). They can hold up to 63 minutes of 1080i high definition, HDV format, video. Each hour of imported high definition format video, ready to edit, will consume about 44 gig of computer hard drive space.
Flash memory camcorders connect the USB port to the USB port on a computer with a USB cable. Launch the AVCHD-capable video editor; have the AVCHD camcorder in Play or PC mode; Capture, Log & Capture or Import the video (depends on the video editor used). OR... you can just copy the MTS files to the computer's hard drive, use a transcoder to "unpack" the AVCHD compression, then import the video to the video editor. Because flash memory is not an acceptable archive format, you will need a place to back up the MTS files. That's where the RAID1 array comes in... Again - all this is easy after it has been done a few times. It is easy to document and provide explicit steps for processing.
1) Set a budget.
2) Make a list.
3) Identify the stuff that fits.
My opinion:
Low end:
Canon HF S200, Canon HV40, Sony HDR CX500 or Sony HDR-HC9
Appropriate manufacturer-labeled high capacity battery
Bescor 25 watt LED-25 video light with accessory bracket/shoe mount (bhphotovideo has "kits")
Tripod - SunPak 6600DX. This is a low-end tripod, but the spreader will keep things steady and it can get pretty tall for higher shots.
Pelican, SKB or other appropriate rugged case (I like the Pelican 1500)
High end:
Canon XHA1, Sony HDR- FX7, Sony HDR-FX1000
Appropriate manufacturer-labeled high capacity battery
DOT Line DV60 camera mount LED video light (at this range, the cameras have accessory shoes for mounting) Consider an additional high capacity battery for this light.
Tripod - Bogen-Manfrotto, Libec, Davis & Sanford (any around $300)
Pelican, SKB or other appropriate rugged case (I like the Pelican 1600)
This set will be a lot heavier that the other, but still doable.
There are steps between the low and high - this is just to get you shopping and setting a budget.
Since we don't know what the computer environment is, we have no way to know if it/they can support either AVCHD/MTS (flash memory) or HDV (miniDV tape). The software in the box with the camcorders is useless. For the most part, MovieMaker is useless - newer versions of iMovie on newer hardware is ok. Sony Vegas or Final Cut are preferred - they will have a bit of a learning curve.
Good luck.
I am a civil engineer looking to purchase a camcorder for business use. My staff will be using the camcorder in dark basements as well as in daylight. The purpose of the video work is to conduct a condition survey of a building to document the condition of the structure (cracks in walls, ceiling, etc)prior to adjacent construction so that if any claim is made that damage occurred due to the construction, we can refer back to a reliable video. The camera we purchase must be able to have a sufficient light attachment to light up a room that has no electricity and no or very little light. In addition, it should be able to record up to 4 hours and have easy transfer of the video to a computer. I understand these camcorders are more expensive (it appears handheld ones are insufficient)so I am willing to purchase what is necessary to fulfill my goal. It is best that the camcorder can take still pictures and doesn't weigh too much that one person can easily carry. Any input would be helpful!

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