I find out later after I bought HS300, Canon & Sony camcorder takes better still image.

=== * ===

Speaking of digital camera taking video, recently my colleague bought Canon EOS 500D. Yup the one with HD video capabilities. I am not going to bore you with details how good is DSLR, just touch on video part. Done a quick full HD shot in the office, about 1 min 20 sec. Very impressive, especially at the dark areas and images/colors very good, IMO much better than HS300 or other camcorder that I have seen.

However there is a few weak spots, when auto focusing the camera is working very hard. In fact so hard, I can hear the servo motors grinding with noise. Playback video is great but the sound of the motor noise is recorded as well, quite loud. Also the auto focus is not fast enough, struggling to focus at the subject. Some limitation, full HD mode is only 20 fps and video file size is limited to 4GB. For about 1 min 20 sec, the movie file size is 500MB ! The seller told my colleague while 500D shots video, it can't match camcorder overall, it is a handy feature.

I suppose digital camera will improve in the future, who knows we only need to carry one camera for both good video and good still image taking.

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Added on June 16, 2009, 11:37 pm

True, can't buy too many of gadgets.

Wah, you are really pro. Me, I just "play play".

This post has been edited by CPURanger: Jun 16 2009, 11:43 PM

good luck trying to zoom and autofocus and film more than 5 minutes! or actually film while moving not to mention how it sucks up the battery like


like i keep saying to you guys, HD or not HD is never important! with new innovation and technology it ALWAYS comes with underperforming, deceiving, and pure marketing bull. think about it, for the canon slr they could as simply have 720p mode, but because marketing says 1080p sells more, so you can't have that. HDV can't have true 1080, but because it's sort of 1080 (1440x1080) sony still calls it HD.

as for me, my need for still photos is rarely more than something around 1080p HD size (around A4 print size). plus the fact that HD camcorders essentially capture 30 images in a sec, so no need for me to say cheese



that said, as soon as E-P1 ade kat sini i'll be the first to get it

This post has been edited by C-Fu: Jun 17 2009, 12:25 PM

Actually not all DC are good in video and have limitation. Afterall they are for still image. But they do have few model which take good video quality. I m not into HD yet and still waiting a DC with have good HD video capture. It still too early but will be comming soon.
Currently using canon S3IS DC which take good video quality. Even better than my pana 3ccd DVcam. End up my pana dvcam in storeroom. But S3IS do have limitation in video capture. The zoom not as smooth and slow as videocam. No limit on capture size, choose 25/30/60fps and dvd or vcd to choose.
Before go for holiday, I always need to consider, take videocam or DC. But everytime endup just take the DC. Now I have DC 2in1. Save weight and space. If you not looking for HD yet, the 2in1 DC future is already here.

To all si fu here, may i know Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1 already available in malaysia? i'm looking for my 1st camcorder and my budget is below 2k, can anyone give me suggestion, please?

Both the Sanyo VPC-FH1 and the HD2000 are now available locally, saw them at Best Denki KLCC and also Bo Eng, Sungai Wang. Unfortunately they are more than RM2k but below RM3k. I have the HD2000 and the video quality is had to beat. Has the highest resolution of 1080p, higher than those of the big three of Canon, Sony and Panasonic costing about RM4k to RM5k. Unfortunately the Image Stabilisation of the Sanyo is very bad compared to the big three. Give it a try to see if you can live with it. There are also other pros and cons so the best is to give it a test. See my impression in my blog on the HD2000 at sanyovideocam.blogspot.com

Got myself a Pana TM300 and an ebay stabilizer.... still playing... too bad still struggling with the stabilizer...

Do you ve the raw file? Unedit and taken video while you are walking. Would like to see how bad is the video without stabilizer and the quality.

Congrats ! Now I have some one to share info. What sort of stabilizer ? Is there a picture of it ?

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Added on June 21, 2009, 2:55 pm

The minute I see the Sanyo webpage specification, "Digital Image Stabilizer = Videos: Digital Image Stabilizer (electronic)", it reminds me of Apple iMovie doing software stabilizer.

Not to put down Sanyo camcorders but my hands not so steady with cameras, stabilizer is a must for me.

This post has been edited by CPURanger: Jun 21 2009, 02:56 PM

How to attach raw file to my post? Very big mp4 file, 120M for 40 seconds clip.

Upload to rapidshare, megaupload, ugotfile and etc. And give us the link here.

Hi ozak,
here's the link to download, http://rapidshare.com/files/247390797/KLCC_Park.MP4.html
Please give your comments. You may need to view it with PS3 or Arcsoft Total Media Extreme. Other video players may not be able to open it. Thanks.

I bought the stabilizer first and then the TM300... Too bad. Never thought that the TM300 is less than a pound....

Still figuring out on how to add weight... (extended batt - damn expensive, change the balancing point and etc)

http://cgi.ebay.com/MiniDV-Steadycam-Stead...3DLVI%26ps%3D54

go to youtube and search for steadycam guides. a lot of people (including the Steadycam company itself) have posted guides as to how to setup and use the Steadycam, which should apply to you, at least for a fair bit.

remember, setting the steadycam properly is IMPORTANT. it might be difficult at first, but its a very, very useful knowledge to have. a lot of people paid thousands of US dollars to get certified as a steadycam operator, and can charge thousands of ringgit PER DAY of being an operator.



as for the sanyo, i wouldn't touch ANY HD OR WIDESCREEN cam without optical stabiliser. with HD, there's so much more information than SD. And together with widescreen , there's so much more tilting that can and will happen when operating the camera that it's going to be super visible when used by your normal/average guy. one of the reason why i keep on saying that HD isn't really important when you want to compare features.

This post has been edited by C-Fu: Jun 23 2009, 04:20 PM

Agreed. The thing is, this steadicam is designed for 1lb to 2.25lbs cam. My cam is 15.9 oz.... Of course, it is handmade by someone in a small basement. So that's why the price is very low compared to others. I tested it horizontally and it clearly looks like the lowest limit is not 1lb. I'm not complaining... It is not like the more expensive Steadycam, even though I like the finishing a lot.

Anyway, I've got some idea on how to use it. I've gone through tens of youtube videos and tens of guides... I was so close of buying the manfrotto modosteady or something.... but the comparison made in youtube gave a bad result....

cheap is always good! my cheapest "steadycam" is 5 ringgit

try adding plasticine for extra weights at the bottom (or middle), that's the easiest i reckon. the one thats always used in sekolah rendah dulu2 la, cut it evenly into several pieces so you can agak2 how much the pieces weight. once you find the optimum weight, leave it in the sun for few hours or a day for it to harden. if you only use your "steadycam" for just one camera then there's no problem lah

might be usefull to if you mold the plasticine (or a general purpose putty) around the weight screws so you can create your own general purpose steadycam weights once it hardens

This post has been edited by C-Fu: Jun 23 2009, 04:46 PM

WOWWWW... good ideas... never think of that....

Hi everyone...

i'm new here. I'm planning to start shooting videos for all my backpacking tours... and i oso plan to shoot a small documentary film next year...

i have difficulties choosing a camcorder... I can't afford those like HDR-FX1000E... but i need to advice from u guys...

1st, i plan to buy HDD camcorder with built-in memory around 80-120gb...
and with remote control n socks so that i can add flash or shotgun mic for shooting...


are there any specific brands that good?
I was thinking to choose in between Panasonic n Sony...

but after i did some research on the net, Panasonic seems to be cheaper, but lack of some features in the camcorders...

Then, now i'm thinking to get the Sony DCR-SR67E...
any1 would recommend me go for it?

or should i go for HD?
i'm thinking normal HDD camcorder would it be not so clear compared wif HD?

HD seems to be so expensive...

alrite, if u guys were to recommend me a brand n model, whether it's HDD or HD, which brand n model would it be?

i'm new to this n i dun really know much about it...
i plan to shoot my journey for my vlog and oso shoot some documentaries, mostly about places...

ur opinions n comments are most appreciated...
TQ so much!!

money first. how much?

at 1st my budget was 2k plus... max is 3k plus...

datz y i was considering DCR-SR67E, around rm2k... but it doesnt have sock if im not mistaken... and im not quite sure abt the mic/headphone jack...
but do u think the quality will be lousy as i plan to shoot some documentaries...

otherwise, i plan to HDR-XR520E that cost around rm4.7k.. this is wut i found cheapest... duno where still can get cheaper than that tho... any idea?
XR520E seems to be prefect for everything...but the price is abit too expensive... was thinking to get the cheaper HD cam, HDR-XR200E, but it's without a mic jack... seriously, i need a mic jack...

again, it's for long term use... do u think HD is necessary? it's seem to be so famous nowadays... i know the quality is very good, but do u think it's necessary? how abt the normal SR67E? quality wise, izit okay?

XR520E seems to be really perfect... checked the review n everything...

i'm still a beginner, need so advice here... tq so much...

tv documentaries? a lot better to just rent better equipments out. nanti colourange, vectorscope semua out padan muka


long term? no. if you mean 5 years, by that time there's probably gonna be 10x better camera than today's. compare the XR520E to HD cams 5 years ago. the cheapest was in the 5 digit range. one thing you need to remember is that HD for small camcorders are NOT EVEN CLOSE to HD of proper big camcorders. just because they slap the HD moniker/logo on the cam doesn't mean that it is HD. remember the times when they try to trick us by having big big 700x ZOOM on the camera? or 40x HYBRID ZOOM on the digicamera? or 6MP digicamera with a smaller text that says "3MP effective"? Same situation here. Buy cameras (or general technology) because of the feature it has NOW. not 5 years from now. Last year we didn't even know cameras such as XR520 or TM300 existed. next year? who knows, but it's going to blow the camcorders today, i can guarantee that.

as always, read back my older messages few pages back. i've said so much already, there's just no point to say it again.

This post has been edited by C-Fu: Jun 24 2009, 12:08 PM