Recording Video...HD Cameras. Whatcha usin'?

[Guitar D]

I had a Sony that took High 8 tapes for years and it had a great built in mic for recording loud gigs. No clipping great sound. It started breaking down and wanted to move to the memory card thing to hold more and cheaper. So a couple of years ago I picked up a Canon FS200. Great built in mic but no HD. It was $299.

I tried a JVC that was over $400 that took better video but the built in mic sucked!

I was thinking about trying an HD Canon that Sam's club has for $350 with a built in mic. Thinking it prob. has the same recording quality as this one. I'm hoping. But I was wondering what other guys are using with built in mics for recording their bands.

I've had a couple of band friends record with Higher def. cameras that looked good but the sound was very digitally and CLIPPED like crazy.

Here's a clip of our gig outside. All miked into a pretty loud powerful system. Would really love better picture quality but don't want to spend a ton.

[Guitar D]

Anyone?

[Elmer]

Bump for the same question. I want to record some gigs; low light performance and audio quality are key.

Any recommendations?

[Fran Guidry]

I gotta say, low light performance and audio quality in the same cam = BIG $$$.

Low light by itself starts around $1K. Panasonic TM700 or one of the HD enabled DSLR or m4/3 replaceable lens cameras, plus a fast lens.

Good audio by itself is the Zoom Q3HD at $300, but the low light performance is about the same as any fixed lens pocket cam like a Kodak Zi8.

I'm not a pro, and I haven't tried everything, but I've researched a fair amount and tried various stuff. The only cam I've used that really performs in low light is the Panasonic GH2 with an f1.7 lens, and the audio on that is mediocre. And that lens isn't a zoom - a fast zoom is going to run the cost up a bunch.

Fran