Inexpensive Camera Review Request

[HappiDada]

Hola LMG and forum goers,

Let me start with, my apologies if this is in the wrong section.

I would like to put out a request for a sub-200$ camera suggestion/review. I am starting my YouTube channel doing a lot of reviews and although I have a LOT of quality audio equipment due to my streaming, I do not have a useful high quality camera and I have noticed that my videos are no where near the quality my viewers have come to expect from me. 
With this stated I would like to see if LMG would consider doing a bit about some quality sub 200$ cameras that could be reasonably used with YouTube. Some of the features that I would understand being good would be microphone inputs, potentially changeable lenses (although I do not think anything under 200 would fit this), battery life, and stability control.

 

I would like to get the other forum goers opinion as well as I do not expect that LMG will waste their time if I am the only person looking for this type of review/suggestion.

 

Thanks everybody!!!

Edited February 4, 2016 by Godlygamer23
Removed advertising and sign-off.

[GrissmIN]

10 minutes ago, HappiDada said:

Hola LMG and forum goers,

Let me start with, my apologies if this is in the wrong section.

I would like to put out a request for a sub-200$ camera suggestion/review. I am starting my YouTube channel doing a lot of reviews and although I have a LOT of quality audio equipment due to my streaming, I do not have a useful high quality camera and I have noticed that my videos are no where near the quality my viewers have come to expect from me. 
With this stated I would like to see if LMG would consider doing a bit about some quality sub 200$ cameras that could be reasonably used with YouTube. Some of the features that I would understand being good would be microphone inputs, potentially changeable lenses (although I do not think anything under 200 would fit this), battery life, and stability control.

 

I would like to get the other forum goers opinion as well as I do not expect that LMG will waste their time if I am the only person looking for this type of review/suggestion.

 

Thanks everybody!!!

HappiDada

http://www.youtube.com/c/HappiDada

 

HappiDada,

 

For you budget the list is not very long. I've been doing photography and video production for about four years now and I don't think I've ever run into a sub $200 camera that will give you much of anything except point and shoot. Features wise - you won't get mic inputs - at most you will have a HDMI mini D - AV/USB multi, and depending on the model a DC input. 

 

If you are looking into investing a lot of time and effort into your channel I would suggest trying to save up another $200-300 and invest in a "starter" camera body with the kit lenses. Such as one from Nikon or Canon. For about $450-500 you can get the Canon T5, or the Nikon D3300 which would come with atleast an 18-55mm lens that would provide a HUGE boost in quality over anything you may be using now or would purchase for $200. 

 

The issue with cameras is that they are so dang expensive. Understandably if you can't quite afford this perhaps look into investing in a camcorder such as this. -http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1110404-REG/canon_0280c001_vixia_hf_r600_full.html

The pros of a camcorder are portability - dedicated to video - cheap - and relatively good quality video.  

The cons are - no real flexibility with your shot, in other words you wont be able to mess with your depth of field, zooming will degrade the image usually due to the digital zoom. 

 

I hope this helps! If you have any questions please feel free to ask. 

[HappiDada]

2 minutes ago, GrissmIN said:

HappiDada,

 

For you budget the list is not very long. I've been doing photography and video production for about four years now and I don't think I've ever run into a sub $200 camera that will give you much of anything except point and shoot. Features wise - you won't get mic inputs - at most you will have a HDMI mini D - AV/USB multi, and depending on the model a DC input. 

 

If you are looking into investing a lot of time and effort into your channel I would suggest trying to save up another $200-300 and invest in a "starter" camera body with the kit lenses. Such as one from Nikon or Canon. For about $450-500 you can get the Canon T5, or the Nikon D3300 which would come with atleast an 18-55mm lens that would provide a HUGE boost in quality over anything you may be using now or would purchase for $200. 

 

The issue with cameras is that they are so dang expensive. Understandably if you can't quite afford this perhaps look into investing in a camcorder such as this. -http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1110404-REG/canon_0280c001_vixia_hf_r600_full.html

The pros of a camcorder are portability - dedicated to video - cheap - and relatively good quality video.  

The cons are - no real flexibility with your shot, in other words you wont be able to mess with your depth of field, zooming will degrade the image usually due to the digital zoom. 

 

I hope this helps! If you have any questions please feel free to ask. 

Thank you for such a prompt response. 

 

Although I have looked int DSLR cams I had been looking into the recent Sony Handycam series. One of their latest includes a 1080p + 16MP design that includes a 32x optical zoom and a 12 deg. optical stabilizer. This being said, the only place for me to get my hands on one was BestBuy in which I promptly left as soon as the pushy sales person would not take "I don't need any help" for an answer. On top of this I was unable to test actual recording, playback, or quality on a larger device (ie: monitor). The one thing that was very appealing to me about this was the starter price range at only $150. 

 

I will say this though, I do appreciate your incite on the facts especially because the points you brought up of depth of field selection and so on. With that said I was unaware that the T5 had the ability for remote audio input such as a lav mic.

 

Thank you again!!!
Happi

[GrissmIN]

16 minutes ago, HappiDada said:

Thank you for such a prompt response. 

 

Although I have looked int DSLR cams I had been looking into the recent Sony Handycam series. One of their latest includes a 1080p + 16MP design that includes a 32x optical zoom and a 12 deg. optical stabilizer. This being said, the only place for me to get my hands on one was BestBuy in which I promptly left as soon as the pushy sales person would not take "I don't need any help" for an answer. On top of this I was unable to test actual recording, playback, or quality on a larger device (ie: monitor). The one thing that was very appealing to me about this was the starter price range at only $150. 

 

I will say this though, I do appreciate your incite on the facts especially because the points you brought up of depth of field selection and so on. With that said I was unaware that the T5 had the ability for remote audio input such as a lav mic.

 

Thank you again!!!
Happi

To clarify the T5 does NOT have a mic input, the T5i does however - I just picked up a T5i from the Canon website refurbished for $425. It works great.

[HappiDada]

Thank you for clarifying that... I was seriously about to buy the T5 on Ebay LOL!

 

Thanks again!

[LogicalDrm]

As a user of 200€ camera, I'm not impressed. If I was in you situation, I'd get $500 hobby grade camera. True that mine only has 720p video recording (Canon PowerShow SX210 IS) but even I think that $200 price range doesn't give you much, even when specs say 1080p.

[Dredgy]

It's also worth pointing out that DSLRs are still a cut below proper video cameras for a few reasons.

And one of those reasons is audio. If you want proper audio inputs, that's not really happening on anything less than $1000. 

 

There are ways around that of course - you can get an external audio  (Zoom H4n for example) and a clapperboard and then sync the audio in post production. I hate doing this, but it is the best way to get high quality audio from a DSLR. You can also get something like this which will convert stereo XLR into a 3.5mm connector. That saves having to sync, but the pre-amps in DSLRs are pretty dodgy.

 

DSLR/mirrorless cameras do have interchangeable lenses though, and that is a HUGE advantage (or disadvantage in some cases) because if you are getting okay video quality with a kit lens, then you have potential for great video quality when you can afford it.

[ALwin]

1 hour ago, Dredgy said:

It's also worth pointing out that DSLRs are still a cut below proper video cameras for a few reasons.

And one of those reasons is audio. If you want proper audio inputs, that's not really happening on anything less than $1000. 

 

There are ways around that of course - you can get an external audio  (Zoom H4n for example) and a clapperboard and then sync the audio in post production. I hate doing this, but it is the best way to get high quality audio from a DSLR. You can also get something like this which will convert stereo XLR into a 3.5mm connector. That saves having to sync, but the pre-amps in DSLRs are pretty dodgy.

 

DSLR/mirrorless cameras do have interchangeable lenses though, and that is a HUGE advantage (or disadvantage in some cases) because if you are getting okay video quality with a kit lens, then you have potential for great video quality when you can afford it.

and just to add a penny here, expensive camera does not automatically mean great video.  Skill counts more than having an expensive set of gear.

[ShadowCaptain]

19 hours ago, Dredgy said:

SNIP

Sometime like this works too, which has built in pre-amps - OR you can get in line pre-amps to boost the signal before putting them into a DSLR

 

http://www.rcblogic.co.uk/p-2654-beachtek-dxa-slr-mini.aspx?st=33&source=paidclick&gclid=CjwKEAiArdG1BRCLvs_q-IObwxMSJACXbLtzv5YMbTBDVMIftVt0X_MhpFgtG2hY3p1mVBa0NRVyGBoCKEbw_wcB

 

(assuming the person NEEDS audio)