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The Best Canon Camcorder You Can Buy?

Hi, I'm looking for a quality Canon camcorder, I need something that will allow me to upload videos to my computer and transfer to DVD, I'd also like something that can take still photos, but that's not essential. What are your suggestions?

Public Comments

1. There is really no right answer here... the real driving force is your needs... and budget. Almost every current camcorder will allow you to transfer to your computer [USB or Firewire]... burning a DVD on your computer is an independant action not related to your camcorder purchase. Most camcorders fail poorly when discussing still photos... they generally do not compare with a dedicated still camera. Most still picture photos from a camcorder are still in the 1 Megapixil or less camp... there are some which are just coming out which bost 3-5 mega pixil but that is due to a method of interpolation and the quality of this is in question.

1. Some suggestions to look for are how it feels in your hand... cameras that dont feel right, dont get used -- go to a store with a wide range of cameras and try them out to get a feel for the size that you like.
2. What type of video are you going to shoot... indoor dinner shots on a cruise are much different than out door beach shoots with friends. The former needs a camera that can handle low light situations well... the latter needs a camera that shoots bright light situations well.
3. Do you want to use DV tape [my personaly preference], hard drive [usually best for the consumer user if you want to make your own DVD on computer], shoot directly to DVD [best if you dont want to edit your tapes], or memory card.
4. Do you like to fiddle with your camera settings or have an auto everything camera? This is a big consideration... if you like to fiddle with settings and get one that discourages or not allow this, you will not like the camera... or if you dont like to fiddle with the camera and there are many settings you have to adjust, you will not like the camera and it will not get used as much.
5. Does your computer have a USB or Firewire port -- make sure your camera port is compatable with the computer port options(suggest firewire if you can -- even if that means updating your computer ports).
6. Battery length... how long does the battery last with out recharging... or do you need to carry multiple batteries... I have a camera that lasted 15 minutes on one battery... a major drag.
7. Viewer size... what is the size... larger is nicer... but uses more juice... can you close it and use a view finder [this saves major battery life--sometimes in bright light a lcd screen is not useful ] -- make sure it has a viewfinder on it and not just a flip lcd viewer on it.
8. What type of format do you want? There are new HD cameras hitting the market [which are very nice], the other options are the 3 ccd or 1 ccd cameras. If you can afford it, get the 3 ccd camera... will give a far superior shot to the 1 ccd camera... but can add significantly to the price.

Good luck.

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4. There's no question, Canon's professional camcorders can not be beat. The XL-H1 is the newest and best, but it costs about $10,000. It shoots HD on MiniDV tapes. Next is the XL-2 which costs about $4000. I own a GL-2 which costs about $2000. All have amazing image quality without any adjustments, but have all the manual controls to fine tune a shot. They have optical image stabilization for handheld shots. You can buy additional professional lenses to use with any of these camcorders. The Canon image circuitry and 3CCD chips also incorporate a lot of new technology to make the colors vibrant and true to life. The GL-2 does not do as well in low light, but still much better than your average camcorder. These are the things to compare if your looking for a professional camcorder. They don't matter much for the average person, but if you want great video, you need a professional camcorder.

5. I've used a Canon GL-2 many times. They are reliable, easy to use, and take good quality video. I have used them for television quality productions.