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Question

Low light fast AF handycam for shooting children

Nov 3, 2014 6:37PM PST

Please can someone help me with selecting a handycam ..need it for shooting my children...it should have the following..

-has low-light capability as I'll mostly use it indoors

-has fast AF

-has long zoom (this will be helpful as I plan to use it in their school events when they grow-up)

-slow motion (not sure if I really need this but if its there would be nice)

budget is max 1000 usd

many thanks for your time

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Panasonic HC-V750
Nov 4, 2014 1:26PM PST

Has all the specifications you have asked for.
I have recorded my Grandchildren for 8 years now - with this camera since March. You do not need a fast AF as most AFs will keep up with childrens' movement. The camera has 50x intelligent zoom, slow motion and a decent low light performance, I use mine indoors much of the time.

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..
Nov 5, 2014 2:17AM PST

Thanks Terfyn, will look into it. Will probably have to import it since Panasonic is not easily available here in Pakistan. Although Sony has its stores here...but am not sure if even they have all the models available..

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zoom...
Nov 5, 2014 11:15AM PST
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Optical Zoom vs Intelligent Zoom
Nov 6, 2014 12:14AM PST

As the camera is sitting in front of me, I assure you that the intelligent zoom range is 50x using optical zoom (20x) and the oversized chip to give greater zoom range. There is no degradation of the picture.
The full spec for the 750 is optical 20x, intelligent 50x and 1500x for full digital.
You should appreciate that a mixture of optical plus electronics can give greater zoom range without degradation.

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Low light fast AF handycam for shooting children
Nov 10, 2014 4:44PM PST

thanks man..

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memory cards...
Nov 10, 2014 9:26PM PST

hi man..plz can u tell me which class of cards would be better with this handycam and the maximum size that it can support?

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SD cards
Nov 10, 2014 11:37PM PST

SDHC 32Gb or SDXC 64Gb Class 10. You may be better getting two 32Gb cards rather than the 64 Gb. Size is not as important as downloading to your PC for editing and making DVDs. I always download after every shoot.
ALWAYS re-format the SD card in the camera, NOT in the PC. The camera sets up a range of folders for video, still and housekeeping files.

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Nov 11, 2014 3:33AM PST

aha oke..so I've to use sdcards, thanks for the info!

btw, any particular reason that I should get 32gb instead of 64?