camcorder reccomendation please

KIPAX

KIPAX

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KIPAX Lancashire UK
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Looking to point and shoot
Its for shooting sport
Need slow motion
Decent in poor lighting
2 card slot if possible

Budget... not too fussed.. the higher range wont by point and shoot anyways.. so up to £1k I guesss

Juts to be clear.. looking for camcorder not dslr ta :)

PS looked and googled ang googled and looked.. So just wondered if anyone else already looked... shouting out makes of camcorders isn't going to help

As always much apprciated in advance :)
 
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As you asked I may be able to help. Most camcorders only have small sensors so although will b e in daylight nightime could may mean adding extra light. but i find tghat a minoe issue to be honest. all camcorder when set in auto mode wiwill be point and shoot
for me picture quality comes first and my old panasonic camcorder after 10+years wore out. so I had the Sony AX 53 whic had a lrger sewnsor but oh dear the optical stablisation was crfap and I had very little contrl over the settings . foe example set shutter speed and the camcorder set automatically aperature etc. got rfid of that pretty quick.
so went back to Panasonic and the best move i could have made, the image stablisation is fr better than the Sony model I mentional, it is rock solid.
Obviously the Panasonic HC-X1500 I have now is amazing but at £1440 new may be just out of your price bracket except for this.
Having the ND filters built in and which to use in the display is a great help.

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/panasonic-hc-x1500/sku-2385246

It took in Iceland unedited video
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAXCze22-9o
 
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This is sort of shouting out a make of a camcorder ;-)
But I’ve had some good experiences with the Sony FDR range of camcorders … used the FDR-AX53 and FDR-AX100E myself.
Decent 4K footage and ‘do the job’ .. used them at indoors with basketball, and they were more than OK in quality for social media and bigger screens.
There are other models in the same ‘series’ - some cheaper some more expensive.. but few of them are at the 1k price range you mentioned.
 
GooGaBu said:
This is sort of shouting out a make of a camcorder ;-)
But I’ve had some good experiences with the Sony FDR range of camcorders … used the FDR-AX53 and FDR-AX100E myself.
Decent 4K footage and ‘do the job’ .. used them at indoors with basketball, and they were more than OK in quality for social media and bigger screens.
There are other models in the same ‘series’ - some cheaper some more expensive.. but few of them are at the 1k price range you mentioned.
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how can one suggest a camcorder without mentioning a make? . Don't get me wrong this is purely a personal point of view. I would still go for the Panasonic HC-VXF1 4K Camcorder which is in the same price bracket if not for the HC-X1500 version.
 
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realspeed said:
how can one suggest a camcorder without mentioning a make? . Don't get me wrong this is purely a personal point of view. I would still go for the Panasonic HC-VXF1 4K Camcorder which is in the same price bracket if not for the HC-X1500 version.
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he was responding to my request asking people not to just simple shout out a make and nothing more.. you know the sort.. sony make great ones try them... that sort of thing :)
 
GooGaBu said:
This is sort of shouting out a make of a camcorder ;-)
But I’ve had some good experiences with the Sony FDR range of camcorders … used the FDR-AX53 and FDR-AX100E myself.
Decent 4K footage and ‘do the job’ .. used them at indoors with basketball, and they were more than OK in quality for social media and bigger screens.
There are other models in the same ‘series’ - some cheaper some more expensive.. but few of them are at the 1k price range you mentioned.
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funny you should day that.. someone else (an american) pointed me to this


PS the 1k price range was a guess.. I will spend whats needed.. I just didnt want 10k camcorders thrown at me as they wouldnt be point and shoot.. i also didnt want 200 quid ones either.. somehitg decent but not pro :)
 
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If Realspeed has convinced you MPB have a HC-X1500 £1099, but they also have the HC-X1 which has a bigger sensor than the X1500 so will be slightly better in low light and thats only £834
 
Scott what was the run time? I picked the x1500 because it only has 1 HR run time I can only talk about what I have and use. Maybe the one you suggest is an alternative option. I went for the x1500 for size and what I wanted menu wise
 
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KIPAX said:
funny you should day that.. someone else (an american) pointed me to this


PS the 1k price range was a guess.. I will spend whats needed.. I just didnt want 10k camcorders thrown at me as they wouldnt be point and shoot.. i also didnt want 200 quid ones either.. somehitg decent but not pro :)
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If your budget stretches - the AX100 is fair bit better..
But - for point&shoot ones, in my opinion these pretty good ones.
Of course there are compromises... compared to a 10k camcorder ;-)
And I would say Sony now wouldn't I ... since apart from my 35mm film gear.. all my stuff is Sony these days (although the Panasonic ones do seem to have a good reputation as well..)
Good luck in choosing from the tons of options you have ..
 
realspeed said:
Scott what was the run time? I picked the x1500 because it only has 1 HR run time I can only talk about what I have and use. Maybe the one you suggest is an alternative option. I went for the x1500 for size and what I wanted menu wise
Click to expand...

The X1500 is showing 1hr run time, the X1 is showing 26hrs run time, so hardly used, But MBP are listing the X1 as 'well used' Ive no idea why, a pro camera like this should be capable of 1000+ hrs easily.
 
From this and others advice and from all the reviews I ahve seen on youtube I am leaning towards the Sony FDR-AX53
 
KIPAX said:
From this and others advice and from all the reviews I ahve seen on youtube I am leaning towards the Sony FDR-AX53
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Obviously trhe choice is yours. However I still think you will be very disappointed. Having owned one and found out how little control over settings one has made me get rid of it after less than a year. What was the most annoying thing was the cold/hot shoe revealing flap on the top. OH that damn flap flopping about banging against the remote microphone (yes a sony mike)or on the camcorder body drove me mad. I tried everything including blutack to stick it to the microphone side, it never worked properly, you don't see this mentioned, I fell for the hype about the floating gimble inside, well it isn't half as good as one thinks.more of a gimmick than anything. The panasonic also has a 5 axis stablisation also has the option of normal- pan/tilt- stable optical image stablisation. No choice with sony

A I said it is your choice but before buying get a hands on both first and see if I am not right.yes there is a price difference for a reason and that is what each offers menu wise.
 
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@KIPAX why are you ruling out DSLR? You have 1DX / 1DXM2, right? And long primes. This kit can already record top quality sport footage in slow motion. Any kind of camcorder will be poor in comparison.
 
TimHughes said:
@KIPAX why are you ruling out DSLR? You have 1DX / 1DXM2, right? And long primes. This kit can already record top quality sport footage in slow motion. Any kind of camcorder will be poor in comparison.
Click to expand...


I have the 1dx mk3 which i believe wipes the floor with the others... But its not point and shoot. I just want to take the equiveant of happy snaps for facebook and stuff... also be more mobile wiht it.. . I ahve looked into doing it more manual but its a whole new world and its just daunting for me at my age and at the moment :)
 

KIPAX​


I think is if someone has only used sony camcorders they are going to say Sony are the best, same for panasonic users. However I have used both so can speak from over 12 years experience using camcorders . Nothing actually wrong with the Sony AX53 video wise ,but oh that lack of control and stablisation!!!!!!!! say no more. for me that was the main issues i had with it
I find that albeit the sony is ok??? the panasonic produces a better video overall.

to give so idea of how steady the panasonic is walking hand held in my garden (with slippers on) also need little practice doing it

Panasonic HC-X1500 hand held ND built in filter on1/4 setting


there is no way could I have done this with the Sony AX53. also check the colours. Taken 14.30Approx on 29/3/2024 today and one of the 3 options to use for stablisation. you don't get that with the Sony

this is how i did it
P1060380.JPG
I bought a tripod arm for two positions . this gave me clearance to use the flip out screen. Also a round handle ( I modified an old one I had) assembled like this. to say I was staggered the difference this made, well the vide above shows. initially I had the handle abvove the bar but that made the camcorder that much lower . Apart from that the hadle being that far from the camcorder helped control any sideways swing
 
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OK so.... Things got in the way not to mention current illness and a new illness :(

Have finally taken the step.. I discounted the panasonic you have @realspeed because it looks too pro.. I just want somehting that doesnt stand out and i can just take video wihtout people taking much notice of me.. So I went for the Sony X53 . got one in excellent condition 6mth warranty for £540

What memory card do I need for 4k video please.. as you ahve had one @realspeed then hoping you can help... It arrived friday and I want to use for jet ski comp on sat :)


Will this suffice?

 
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Sony AX 53 might be ok for you. but below is my personal opinion. hopefully not against site rules

I had one and it was terrible. the hype about image stablisation is all hype and rubbish . that is not the bad news there is worse. you have absolutely no contro; over the settings. for example set the shutter speed and all other setting fall in line such as aperture ISO etc. Set the iso and again all the rest shutter speed and aperture fall in lne and there is nothing you can do about it. I did mention that before
I had one for only a few months brand new and couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

I could afford the pana HC-X1500 the panasonic range are far superior in my opinion such as the Panasonic HC-VXF1 4K Camcorder . I only hope your not so upset with the sony as i was ,that is all I can say I only wish you had asked me first.

as for memory cards I use sandisk 128GB cards with the170mb/s versions .

I do like to have some control on a camera/camcorderas all have a basic "program mode" to start with .
 
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realspeed said:
Sony AX 53 might be ok for you. but below is my personal opinion. hopefully not against site rfules

I had one and it was terrible. the hype about image stablisation is all hype and rubbish . that is not the bad news there is worse. you have absolutely no contro; over the settings. for example set the shutter speed and all other setting fall in line such as aperture ISO etc. Set the iso and again all the rest shutter speed and aperture fall in lne and there is nothing you can do about it. I did mention that before
I had one for only a few months brand new and couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

I could afford the pana HC-X1500 the panasonic range are far superior in my opinion such as the Panasonic HC-VXF1 4K Camcorder . I only hope your not so upset with the sony as i was ,that is all I can say I only wish you had asked me first.

as for memory cards I use sandisk 128GB cards with the170mb/s versions .
Click to expand...


I did ask you first and you wrote all that above :) But I didnt liek the look of the panasonic as mentioned above..and i did a LOT of research. including a few side by side comparisons. for outdoor use and zoom it does tick all the boxes and the IS does seem that bad..

This is my first camcorder so i have nothing to compare so i cant see me being that dissapointed.. videos will be for social media so...

so the sd card in that link i posted would be correct as up to 180 ta :)
 
Anyway apart from the above , re memory cards. I only use sandisk and only had one fall apart in over 11 years.

So first things first. the spec on your camera should give the max MB/s speed it can accept. Mine allows up to a max of 200 mb's. Cards usually 170 mb's should be fast enough to prevent buffering
next is memory card size and I use normally 128 GB card.

however being or trying to be clever I did use 256 GB card size on the norway- fareo iosle -iceland hols.. Even though that was above the recommended 128 GB size what happen was it split the 256GB cards auromatically intoi 2x128GB sizes

class 10 is the norm There are four different speed classes — 10, 6, 4, and 2. 10 is the fastest, while 2 is the slowest.
there is also a number 3 in an U which is tghe normal video speed and nothing to worry about
I also only use SDXC your information book should ay which you can use.

I can pass on a couple of tips which might help

Panning a scene to fast will cause juddering (shutter roll). So to get over this if you start with a subject on one side of the screen pan slowly enough so it taks 7 to 9 seconds to get to the opposite side. This will slow your panning down and make a video a lot better. One danger is accidently caputuring a child in the video. I tend to rather wait until the area is clear and been thanked by several parents for doing so.
Don't try walking with it I find it nearly impossible to keep the camcorder steady and you also pick up breathing and footstep sounds. I norfmally recode In MP4 for nornal vieo/ MOV format may need an editing suite that can handle it such as Wondershare 13 for example.

sound
is anothe issue and which extrnl mike to use as the camcorder one is useless , Oh by the way that flap on to revealing the hot/cold shoe I held back with bluetack as it kept baning against the camcorder body and could be heard in the recording

I have tried several different microphone from directional to surround and eventually found the ideal one that does both. Most use Rode but please take my advise this time . this is the reason why Rhode have fixed audio cable and if damaged you mike is kaput. also uses 9V square batteries not the best idea g etting repalcements or for recharging.
I also had the sony microphone which was directional if my memory serves me correctly and not that good on sound quality.

AS i sai I have tried several and the all time best is one you wuould not have heard of. that is the AZDEN SMX-30V, not tghe cheapest but far from tghe most expensive and the sound quality is first class
So why this one? well apart from going from stereo to directional via a dial id has a detachable audio cable so one can use vittually any reasonable lenth away from the camcorder. It power up via AA batteries or off camcorder battery and tuns off when the cmacorder is turned off. also had the high /low pass fikters etc as shown below

P1002402.jpg
then there is wind noise to deal with so a good muffler is a must. Hear again I have tried out several -spong and hair tpes ' the best I have come across is made by Guttmann in germany
www.mikrofon-windschutz-gutmann.de

Deadcat

The world`s largest manufacturer for microphone windscreens, windshields for intern, extern microphones, Voice Recorder. Deadcat for Smartphones.
www.mikrofon-windschutz-gutmann.de www.mikrofon-windschutz-gutmann.de

smaller microphones have a "tinny" sound
this hasn't and good distance range as below as an example
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-63EXbCOw4

Sony AX53 with top flap blutack to the mic to stop banging
fXiYaAQ.jpg
 
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KIPAX said:
OK so.... Things got in the way not to mention current illness and a new illness :(

Have finally taken the step.. I discounted the panasonic you have @realspeed because it looks too pro.. I just want somehting that doesnt stand out and i can just take video wihtout people taking much notice of me.. So I went for the Sony X53 . got one in excellent condition 6mth warranty for £540

What memory card do I need for 4k video please.. as you ahve had one @realspeed then hoping you can help... It arrived friday and I want to use for jet ski comp on sat :)


Will this suffice?

Click to expand...

The 180MB/s headline is the read speed, if you search the card, you'll find the write speed is lower at about 90MB/s

For the camera, the spec sheet has a max data write speed of 100 Mbps, meaning 12.5MB/s write speed.

Should be fine.
 
Kipak video is a new world in photography if you havn't explorded it yet

you by now must have started to realise there is a world of difference between taking a still photo and a video each presenting its own issues. with sound you will often find videos with the original sound wiped and musi replacing the sound track. editing a video is a bit different as well being able to fade in and out at start and end . add scrolling heading over the video etc etc

a fairly easy one editing suite to use the adobe premier elements most of which I have used in the past

like making old time looking videos
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yto9he6qMs
six screen at once
 
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So about a year later I have learnt a lot

I am a slow learner and wanted to get straight into sports video.. I have done quite a few videos and am pleased with them. using the Sony AX53 camcorder

DSLR
While using I have learnt more about videography (as you do) and so tried my canon dslr.. OMG the difference in video quality is massive :) But i need 4k and a minimum 50fps for sports.. To achieve this (plus auto focus) on a canon high end 1dxmk3 you use a very cropped mode.. So even my 70-200 is too long for a football pitch if at the side... I do have a good tripod and head but moving it all about wiht dslar the extra weiight etc.. just more flexible to use the camcorder..... Much better quality dslr but for the sports I do and moving positions or walking about.. its just not flexible enough

GOING FORWARD
Yes I have now grown out of the Sony AX53 for all the reason @realspeed said BUT I do not regret buying it as it would have been useless buying the panasonic first as I couldnt get my head around video after all those yrs photogrpahing.. Bit old for learning new tricks unless its a long slow process.. which it has been :) Now I know more :) and made lots of videos and learnt a lot along the way

Missed out on the sale..for Panasonic HC-X1500 at <£1k but MPB have a good one

Looking at runnign hrs.. Never knew that was a thing :( How do I find out on mine ?

Panasonic HC-X1500 4k/50 for sports any reason not to ? cant afford to gamble :(

My current field monitor doesnt do 4k so worked OK on sony but be usless for panasonic then. also need a new wired remote which is a very big part of the kit ..


oh hum :)

PS Image stabalisation on the Sony has been great....
 
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FOR Kipax
Panasonic HC-x1500

to find running time Menu- Others-information-operation time total operating time. very easy find. A bit hard but can do when know how is to grab a frame for a still



walkthrough to get a still shot from the video

thumbnail button=== menu button base of camcorder== thumbnail on screen==playback==clip select==select sd card slot
then on screen
options as shown
P1013397.JPG

forward / backwards/stop/ lowests one is slow. On the right appear the camera icon
So you can actually slow down the video and go frame by frame then take the picture
 
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KIpax for wired remote
you need a 3pole to 3 pole 2.5mm cable .

and something like this with a Lan switch on the side of the rocker you see on tghe arm

View: https://youtu.be/FXPploWl8SU

I have stuck a wireless bluetooth dongal on the side plugged into the audio out port on the camcorder. so \Ican lisen with bluetooth hreadphones and not tethered to camcorder
 
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I don't have any sport videos but reach won't be an issue .with optical magnification (Ihave that on user one button =. user 2 is 3 stage screen brightness= optical image stablisation (choice of 3 settings) -=and user 5 for digital magnification (2 time 5 time or 10 times)

zoom example hand held
View: https://youtu.be/6ztstcuM80M

others in our group only had cameras and none even got a photo
 
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the infrared is not as good as the sony AX53 unless you use addition lighting such as built in on the handle. then it is better and you have a choice of green or grey
I still think the pana image stablisation knocks spots off the SonyAX53.

KIPAX​


what I would say is the digital10x zoom (apart from heat haze) will enable you to video a sport from your bedroom window . :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :headbang:
 
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