Need an inexpensive Video Camera that does 1080P

Lé.Skiing

Active member
I really only plan on doing Interviews/News recording with it. So far I'm looking at maybe getting one of these: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=&cs=cadhs1&sku=A7510722&dgc=ST&cid=3852&lid=5635587&acd=123088137920560&ven1=sNVjmLC5i&ven2=,#Overview

Canon VIXIA Mini X. So far the only one I'm seeing that I really like the quality of that would be good for other projects I plan on doing later which is going to basically be a similar style of videography.

Is there anything that is close enough to the VIXIA Mini X that also has a output for mic?

Mainly what I am looking for is something as inexpensive as possible that is pretty much the exact same thing as the Canon VIXIA Mini X maybe even better quality if possible for around the same price?

Here's a video sample of the Canon VIXIA Mini X


I hope that this kinda covers everything I need to mention.

I don't need it to do stills, I have a Canon 40D for stills.

So where I'm at for pricing is like a little over $400 which is probably going to be around like $500 all said and done, but hopefully cheaper if at all possible. If it's going to be more than that I might as well just go with a GoPro. The advantages of this Canon over the GoPro however is that it can do live streaming too, which would be kinda cool just to have seeing as it's something I am likely going to be using in the near future.

I plan on doing a little more research before I commit to something. Right now the Canon VIXIA Mini X is on top for what I want out of the device.

Here's another review for the Canon VIXIA Mini X that explains the features a bit better.


I really like the ability this has to record from internal and external mic's at the same time. Maybe that's not really important though.

Also I already have a condenser mic so I don't need to worry about that. I had another idea how I might be able to rig something up using my laptop, but this seems the only way to go for the quality I'm looking for.
 
you could get a gh3 body for the same price. just slap and old canon fd and an adapter on there, and you have everything you need and more for like 500
 
13599002:GANDALF said:
you could get a gh3 body for the same price. just slap and old canon fd and an adapter on there, and you have everything you need and more for like 500

Thanks going to look into that.

If I have Canon EOS lenses is there an adapter that will work? or can I make one out of a lens cap and camera body cap?
 
13599002:GANDALF said:
you could get a gh3 body for the same price. just slap and old canon fd and an adapter on there, and you have everything you need and more for like 500

Just found a decent price on a GF1. Was only like $65 and going to just grab a mount adapter for my canon lenses now.

A friend of mine who is into photography mentioned he had one and it worked great. Apparently it is the more expensive of the GF1,GF2, and GF3 but I managed to score a pretty sweet deal.
 
13616305:Lé.Skiing said:
Just found a decent price on a GF1. Was only like $65 and going to just grab a mount adapter for my canon lenses now.

A friend of mine who is into photography mentioned he had one and it worked great. Apparently it is the more expensive of the GF1,GF2, and GF3 but I managed to score a pretty sweet deal.

I am pretty sure it is the cheapest... not to mention it is a glorified P&S... just get a GH3.
 
13616390:HarkStudios said:
I am pretty sure it is the cheapest... not to mention it is a glorified P&S... just get a GH3.

if he's doing interviews/news recording only wtf does he need a gh3 for, the gh2 would be more than enough and the gh3 with no lens already puts him at his max budget.

OP, get a used GH2, hack it and then grab some legacy glass and an adapter or something. Best camera ever if you don't need 60p
 
13617106:nutz. said:
if he's doing interviews/news recording only wtf does he need a gh3 for, the gh2 would be more than enough and the gh3 with no lens already puts him at his max budget.

OP, get a used GH2, hack it and then grab some legacy glass and an adapter or something. Best camera ever if you don't need 60p

You are right. I just thing the thing he is looking at is going to be a shitty solution..
 
13616890:AltitudeFoto said:
You could just get a Canon Ti series camera for a decent price, stills and video.

13617106:nutz. said:
if he's doing interviews/news recording only wtf does he need a gh3 for, the gh2 would be more than enough and the gh3 with no lens already puts him at his max budget.

OP, get a used GH2, hack it and then grab some legacy glass and an adapter or something. Best camera ever if you don't need 60p

13617471:HarkStudios said:
You are right. I just thing the thing he is looking at is going to be a shitty solution..

Thanks for all the help! Currently just picked up the GF1 body for $65 (a great deal) which I will admit isn't Top notch quality, but it is better than what I had before. I have checked out the resolution of the sample videos online for the GF1 and it seems good enough for the time being.

Might go with the GH2 If I feel it's not cutting it. Going to keep it as low cost for the time being.

Video footage from GF1 I looked at that seems pretty decent.


Also was reading that if you "hack the firmware" you can get 1080P for the GF1. Might try and figure out how to do that. Seems like some people have had some good results from doing that.

Video of the GF1 Firmware upgrade:

 
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