Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Recommended camcorder for interviews

Aug 24, 2011 5:40AM PDT

I am looking for recommendations for a camcorder that would be used to interview people for an oral history project. Our store is in a historical district so there are a lot of people that we can talk too. Eventually, we will take the interviews and play them in our store for tourists and local visitors. The camcorder would also be used for our local events in the park, filming demonstrations, etc. We would like it to use an SD card, HD compatible, good on board microphones, and the best zoom we can get. Preferably we would like to keep the budget around $3,000 but are open to recommendations!

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
My son did this.
Aug 24, 2011 5:45AM PDT
- Collapse -
I figured...
Aug 24, 2011 7:24AM PDT

I was kind of planning on lapel mics because I figured that would be an issue. Thanks!

- Collapse -
Good wireless is not inexpensive.
Aug 24, 2011 2:10PM PDT

Sennheiser G3 with portable base station
or
Audio Technica ATW-1800 series dual wireless system

- Collapse -
Answer
I agree with Bob.
Aug 24, 2011 2:05PM PDT

I like the Zoom H2 and H4 field recorders...

- Collapse -
Thanks...
Aug 25, 2011 2:05AM PDT

To be honest, I'm not really sure what we are looking for. My boss is set on getting an expensive "professional" camera. Her requirements are that it is able to shoot in HD (now she is mentioning blue-ray) and 20x optical zoom or better. She also doesn't believe that miniDV tapes will be around much longer and that is why she is wanting to go with the SD cards.