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General discussion

What is a good mini dv camcorder with a long battery li

Jun 25, 2006 10:26AM PDT

i've been searching endless lists of camcorders and the ones with good quality wideo tend to have a poor battery life. Need help on choosing the right one.

Discussion is locked

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Here's why.
Jun 25, 2006 1:39PM PDT

Almost all camcorders are fighting for the price points and a bigger battery will cost more. So you'll find all stock batteries to be about the same amount of time.

What I did was get a larger battery later. Mine is now over 4 hours.

Bob

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Re:
Jun 25, 2006 11:18PM PDT

Thanks for the advice im currently stuck in the same position as everyone else looking for a camera qith good low light video. Been searching on all sights and theres so much to choose from. Any models you thiunk are worthy of an inspection?

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When I did that I found 2 collections of low light.
Jun 26, 2006 12:19AM PDT

The search for the best low light camera is never ending. There are no "zero light" cameras since the physics of today's cameras use light. But let me just state this.

You'll find it easier to look at the specs. 1 and under 1 lux cameras are low light. You'll find others with 8 lux or more on the specs. No hard search to perform here. Make your list on some spreadsheet with make/model/price/LUX and sort as you wish.

Bob

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Great Help
Jun 26, 2006 12:35AM PDT

Thanks Bob for the help muchg appreciated. I'm stuck on the question of ccd's whether or not 3 or 1 will do and if buying a 3ccd will increase the video quality n low light.
Thanks for all the help
Ben

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P.S
Jun 26, 2006 12:39AM PDT

just been looking at the specs of a fewq and was wondering how i can find out the lux. (bit of a newbie to all this) Cheers

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An example. (link, comment.)
Jun 26, 2006 1:05AM PDT
http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_Elura_100/4507-6500_7-31641795.html?tag=sub
http://reviews.cnet.com/Sony_Handycam_DCR_HC26/4507-6500_7-31649781.html?tag=sub

I see the LUX listed. What some don't understand is a tradeoff for zero LUX and image quality. You'll want to keep an eye on that in reviews.

As to more sensors, that kills low light since outside of putting 3 times the size lens (more light!) the prism that splits the colors up does impact low light performance. It's all clear once you figure out how things work.

Are you able to move into the PROSUMER type cameras of about 2K and up bucks? If so you see those big lens that help on light and more.

Bob
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once again great info
Jun 27, 2006 1:14AM PDT

the information has helped greatly thanks. Unfortunately i am unable to get into the prsumer category jst, im a firsat timer in purchasing camcorders and so im purely looking for one with a good image quality and good low light perfromeance the canon looks really good, although the sony has a few downsides to the image quality. Aftre reading these reviews the canon sems like a good choice although the only con is its thicvk size. Although i expect with a thinner model the battery would last less and there wouldn't be as many or as strong lights. Would you advise the purchase of the Canon Elura 100?
Thanks for all the great help

Ben

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Found a few
Jun 27, 2006 2:30AM PDT

i saw on cnet.co.uk the Canon MVX35i(think its uk's equivalent to the optura 500) and it appeared to be similar to the elura 100 but with higher resolution although it has a smaller battery life. Just wondering whether it is a safer option as i found it at http://www.camextra.co.uk/viewproductsf.htm?id=1109 for a good price but was wondering whther it was worth sticking with the elura 100 or not.
yours faithfully,
Ben

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I don't remember...
Jun 27, 2006 3:27AM PDT

My buddy has the optura (maybe the elura?) but again the battery is pretty much the same number of minutes in all camcorders at just over one tape then you charge it. If battery time is an issue, shop for that later, ignore what's comes with the battery.

Bob

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recommendations
Jun 27, 2006 7:53AM PDT

just wondering which one out of the Elura 100 or the OPtura 500 would you suggest was a good buy?

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Sorry, "good buy" is not a good target for me.
Jun 27, 2006 12:17PM PDT

You could find a sale one weekend that could skew the answer. I'd take both, find reviews, see what LUX rating there is and then what that big battery will cost.

Bob

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Re:
Jun 28, 2006 8:01AM PDT

Ive checked out the reviews both have low lux either 2 or 1.1 and the battery lasts long and arent too expensive either around

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Which made your list?
Jun 28, 2006 8:12AM PDT

I offered a few items just as an example so you could find the LUX ratings. In your last post you didn't toss up the 2 cameras so the members could comment which one.

Bob