I just bought a camcorder

[LonesomeLamp]

I’ve owned two this year alone. First it was the Sony cx240 (or whatever tf that number was). I paid a little over $200 for it new at Walmart. I didn’t like the quality of the recorded videos. They seemed to be comparable to flip phone quality. I took it back (well, had my mom to) and a few days later, I got a used Sony cx405 from eBay. Original price of the camera was up in the $300 range, but I found one being sold for $160. After taxes and shipping, my conclusion was that I should have stuck with the first one. Quality may be a bit better, but a bit is about it. The first cam had 64x zoom, I think it was. The second one has 60x. Both are purely optical zoom too, but they do feature digital zoom (both have digital zoom disabled by default).

Now let's talk about the one I just purchased (as in within an hour ago). I want a camera with good quality. I’m not wanting “perfect” quality, but I’d like something better than what an iPhone can give. I knew this would cost money too. A fair bit of it. I did a ton of research. Every camera review I read made each camera model look like trash. Some people talking about getting defective cameras, poor pr from the companies, etc. Finally, I took a deep breath and held it while I took the plunge.

So what did I get and what did it cost me? The Panasonic HC-VX870K. Shipping is free. After tax, it costed me a whopping $731.39........

According to a google search, it features 20x optical zoom and 50x intelligent zoom, whatever that means (I assume a special type of digital zoom). As for image quality comparisons, I can’t tell yet. I bought the camera off eBay, so I need to wait for it to get to my house. Looking at the specs found in the google search, I can already see one huge improvement. The cx405 takes still pictures at 9.2 megapixels. The one I just bought goes up to 25.9 megapixels.

What does this all mean for the camera I have now? Well, my dad said he’d like to have a camera capable of taking pictures (and video?) of small bugs and such. The camera I have would be perfect for him because of all that zoom. He’ll need to keep some distance between the camera and the bugs because it’ll throw the focusing off otherwise, but it will happily make the bugs fit the entire screen with the zoom.

The estimated delivery for the newer camera is between the 1st and 4th of June. But my question is what is the first thing I should record after I get it? I mainly started looking for a camera to record my train set with. It’s indoors with relatively low artificial lighting, essentially the bane of all cameras’ existence. This means I’m going to have to record in various lighting conditions just to see how and by how much it affects the footage. By the time I get it and have it ready for use, I likely won’t be in the mood for recording the train. In fact, until I get more done for it, I don’t really have a reason to even run the train. Hmm ?. I ordered something else yesterday that’s completely unrelated. Idr when it’s supposed to show up tho, but if it does so in time, I could record it I guess. I also have other ideas, but those are for the weekend after it gets here.

[Little Cub Pants]

Almost $800 for a camera, that's insane!? I hope it was worth the money!??? I hope you like it.??

[LonesomeLamp]

2 hours ago, BabySpiderBoy said:

Almost $800 for a camera, that's insane!? I hope it was worth the money!??? I hope you like it.??

Yeah, I agree with all of that. You know what the shocking part is about this? When it comes to 4K, this is one of the cheapest I found. Ignoring the ones that fake 4K or straight out lie about it...I’d say somewhere around $600 would be a rough average for lowest price. Meanwhile, I was easily “finding” cameras in the $1000 - $1500 range. A lot of them, actually. If you’re not shocked enough yet, I even found camera bodies in the $10k+ range, no accessories, maybe a single lens.

Also, it’s closer to $700 than it is to $800 lol.

[Crinklz Kat]

19 hours ago, BabySpiderBoy said:

Almost $800 for a camera, that's insane!? I hope it was worth the money!??? I hope you like it.??

That's about 2/3 of what I paid for my first camcorder way back ... .well, I can't exactly remember.  It was back in the days of digital tape (Mini DV).  It wasn't even high-end either.  It died years ago and I never did replace it. 

 

[LonesomeLamp]

47 minutes ago, Crinklz Kat said:

That's about 2/3 of what I paid for my first camcorder way back ... .well, I can't exactly remember.  It was back in the days of digital tape (Mini DV).  It wasn't even high-end either.  It died years ago and I never did replace it. 

 

We have a vhs recorder. Well, I have it. Idr the model, but I’m wanting to say it’s a Panasonic. I’m also wanting to say it was produced in ‘95. Somewhere, we have a tape of my younger sisters preschool graduation we recorded on it. The battery for the camera is dead (dead dead, not “in need of charge” dead) and we don’t have the adapter to plug it into the wall. I did manage once to attach some wires to the battery terminals inside the camera and power it up temporarily once. I later found the same model being sold on eBay for fairly cheap. They were also selling the case and a few accessories with it. I have the case but no accessories. I’d say back in the day, this was one hell of a pricey camera and likely worth every dollar. When I get a chance, I should try to find the wall adaptor being sold somewhere. I’ll likely never find a battery. ‘95 was a long time ago. I’d say all the batteries they made to fit it are all lost causes by now.

[Crinklz Kat]

Yeah, not likely worth the effort to fix either.   But VHS is VHS.  If it was recorded on VHS-C cartridges, you can get an adapter and just play in a conventional VHS machine. 

https://www.amazon.com/Motorized-Cassette-Adapter-Panasonic-Micro-Fiber/dp/B0145NMZDW/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=vhs-c+adapter&qid=1622165949&s=electronics&sr=1-4

 

Mine had a mechanical malfunction with the drive mechanism.   I did buy a mini-DV deck unit so I could at least transfer the tapes I do have eventually.... maybe.  

[DailyDi]

I have a good camera left over from my journalist days, but have never had a serious cacorder. I either use my iphone, or break out my now vintage Flip cam

https://www.amazon.com/Flip-UltraHD-Video-Camera-Generation/dp/B0040702HA

[LonesomeLamp]

Ey, I have one of those. I think mine is the previous model. The power button doesn’t work though, unfortunately. As for phone camera, it’s good for a lot of things, but there are a lot more things that it isn’t. No optical zoom means you’re going to have to either sacrifice the image quality using digital zoom, or get closer to the subject. And that autofocus can be your absolute enemy. I can’t even count how many pictures I never took or had to retake over and over and over and over and over again because it would always focus on the background and not the subject. Or like when I try to take a picture of some deer in my back yard through my bedroom window...and the phone decides to focus the the window screen instead.

Don't get me wrong here, phones have excellent image sensors. It’s just that the camera app (any device) often sacrifices the quality for some reason. On my iPhone 6s, I’ve resorted to using Snapchat to take pics because it usually takes better pics than the camera app, but then the camera app takes better video than Snapchat, so I use the camera app for videos.

Before I go on a huge, pointless rant lol, I’ll just go ahead and summarize my deciding factors. I wanted some level of control over the focusing. I wanted something purpose-built for video recording because I didn’t want to fill my phone gallery, for example, with model train videos. Good ole optical zoom is a must. Preferably good in low lighting, but being good under unnatural lighting is a must (basically all cameras struggle with this tho, so I’m not going to hold it against it if it doesn’t hold up).

[feralfreak]

On 5/26/2021 at 6:07 PM, LonesomeLamp said:

I’ve owned two this year alone. First it was the Sony cx240 (or whatever tf that number was). I paid a little over $200 for it new at Walmart. I didn’t like the quality of the recorded videos. They seemed to be comparable to flip phone quality. I took it back (well, had my mom to) and a few days later, I got a used Sony cx405 from eBay. Original price of the camera was up in the $300 range, but I found one being sold for $160. After taxes and shipping, my conclusion was that I should have stuck with the first one. Quality may be a bit better, but a bit is about it. The first cam had 64x zoom, I think it was. The second one has 60x. Both are purely optical zoom too, but they do feature digital zoom (both have digital zoom disabled by default).

Now let's talk about the one I just purchased (as in within an hour ago). I want a camera with good quality. I’m not wanting “perfect” quality, but I’d like something better than what an iPhone can give. I knew this would cost money too. A fair bit of it. I did a ton of research. Every camera review I read made each camera model look like trash. Some people talking about getting defective cameras, poor pr from the companies, etc. Finally, I took a deep breath and held it while I took the plunge.

So what did I get and what did it cost me? The Panasonic HC-VX870K. Shipping is free. After tax, it costed me a whopping $731.39........

According to a google search, it features 20x optical zoom and 50x intelligent zoom, whatever that means (I assume a special type of digital zoom). As for image quality comparisons, I can’t tell yet. I bought the camera off eBay, so I need to wait for it to get to my house. Looking at the specs found in the google search, I can already see one huge improvement. The cx405 takes still pictures at 9.2 megapixels. The one I just bought goes up to 25.9 megapixels.

What does this all mean for the camera I have now? Well, my dad said he’d like to have a camera capable of taking pictures (and video?) of small bugs and such. The camera I have would be perfect for him because of all that zoom. He’ll need to keep some distance between the camera and the bugs because it’ll throw the focusing off otherwise, but it will happily make the bugs fit the entire screen with the zoom.

The estimated delivery for the newer camera is between the 1st and 4th of June. But my question is what is the first thing I should record after I get it? I mainly started looking for a camera to record my train set with. It’s indoors with relatively low artificial lighting, essentially the bane of all cameras’ existence. This means I’m going to have to record in various lighting conditions just to see how and by how much it affects the footage. By the time I get it and have it ready for use, I likely won’t be in the mood for recording the train. In fact, until I get more done for it, I don’t really have a reason to even run the train. Hmm ?. I ordered something else yesterday that’s completely unrelated. Idr when it’s supposed to show up tho, but if it does so in time, I could record it I guess. I also have other ideas, but those are for the weekend after it gets here.

soooo, does this mean no more sneaking into your house and moving your things around so you would think your house is haunted,,,,, and raiding your diapers?

[LonesomeLamp]

7 hours ago, feralfreak said:

soooo, does this mean no more sneaking into your house and moving your things around so you would think your house is haunted,,,,, and raiding your diapers?

O.O

Should...should I also get security cameras? Or maybe we start making videos of us doing that? Or both?

 

Also small update abound new cameras zoom. It has 20x optical and 50x digital.

[feralfreak]

15 hours ago, LonesomeLamp said:

O.O

Should...should I also get security cameras? Or maybe we start making videos of us doing that? Or both?

 

Also small update abound new cameras zoom. It has 20x optical and 50x digital.

i say both, and if you make money from it, cut me in! i could use the cash!

[Wet Knight]

I have a trusty Panasonic HC_ X920.  (which won't mean anything to anyone who hasn't owned one), not so much that it's 20 - plus mega pixels let me pick out a single frame as a quality photo, but because it has a screen and  a "Through the lense " viewfinder.

A screen is OK when you are young, but a real pain in the butt when your eye muscles can't focus your eyes from the screen to what you are filming, with out fiddling with glasses.

@ Lonesome.  My camera sits very nicely on a wagon in front of my O gauge live steam locomotive.  I have fixed 9" of low slung wire between the loco and the pushed wagon and place the camera facing the loco;  the rake of coaches looks really good, sweeping round the curves.

[LonesomeLamp]

I’d like to (and just about would have to) build a camera car for mine because the scale is so small. I’m thinking get a cheap box car and mutilate it as needed. I’d about have to build my own camera circuit or pay someone else to. I can’t decide between battery operation or put electrical pickups on the wheels so it’ll be powered from the rails. Either way, that’s a project for another day.

And if you have any of those videos on YouTube, I’d like to watch one or two.

[Crinklz Kat]

4 hours ago, LonesomeLamp said:

I’d like to (and just about would have to) build a camera car for mine because the scale is so small. I’m thinking get a cheap box car and mutilate it as needed. I’d about have to build my own camera circuit or pay someone else to. I can’t decide between battery operation or put electrical pickups on the wheels so it’ll be powered from the rails. Either way, that’s a project for another day.

And if you have any of those videos on YouTube, I’d like to watch one or two.

GoPro or similar camera!  Here's one of my Hero5 cameras on an HO 50' gondola (it's unassembled) for size reference.  A flat would obviuosly be better.  There are smaller versions than this, but it's hard to beat one of these.  The battery will last plenty long enough. 

 

There are also "barrel" style cameras that might be a better option.  Could probably fit perfectly inside a tank car.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114620962015?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item1aaff114df:g:z1sAAOSwIqlfrJkK&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACgPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSD7krDaPk%2BwD1W%2Fj2C4MT36vYXXsEKMBAFPpZdG8%2Bi0sKqLGqBbZiUZ8oNeK%2FsPpQhYqQd3eL7RRxQsmD8bhLQ9xlVbbnxh7Bpr6YVeWzieM9YBbOoT1pIRBbt1OnDZqmbvlu8maq4ZG31Z6JVJ0MQyPcVITujIylfBWguWERF9p3aYJCOVhNGpe9zDsM1HMdSzAITOwHPapufUPkYaxwzms1UVfqeMtJavnP%2FItKriSslhRSKDSfTY10b4OpTNEMNjFbXsNlen93ChmzBxatW4TSVrV7sVTXRhsapHIttS4oMh3XkXkFcotz%2Bn3ghkJhJQjl2ZJFBpqLa7HXoZzycPEI1q4g618WLG1nn4FsMssnnSor2B166zgkTiJatdUF%2F0bp%2FSx4aeoIf36%2BPvhGX0t63Zp4o5ixk1PGlHlFF%2FKERW%2FM3f4AqI8e%2BQSExFegcDpVE%2Bp6gUHhQe3FFtqBwp9vOomeP3bKtLTzGL59hilsL7bM67IQs7%2FkkdsE6RBLNepIFXV%2FUMn1w1dGDGwV12MjOcvqoRixckd1QYN%2FjAJ3e2uxgg3VYVd%2FIgNZ2AuxFUKNH5h9GrIQ057opFfvKMoGszocfjJjBDsoTT6AWp3ORY1%2BXBkhe78mIUqFaun3vl3x41XdWYaPHCte3xOEjk9c%2BxJQv8YIiYF71Oe3jPv0Mu1aOYvOiNhFtuFD8y1vT1zXTYS%2BttA7I7lz8rT5XihxFX9ERGK7d7LbTnYRV9RSnQgZflXB16q6EVyoIVdXUTl5z%2BlgauBTUryd6QuS8r21ml9TSxZPTsEFjPd5ucA%3D|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2499334

[LonesomeLamp]

That barrel type is massive, but I may be able to find a car long enough to sit it in. Keep in mind N scale is friggin small. Some cars, the entirety of could fit in just the palm of your hand. I’ll add the barrel camera to my wishlist because I might could use it (and also it’s just cool). Another thing too, I don’t want the camera being mounted to be too wide. Eventually I plan to put a tunnel back up (we’re gonna go look at tables Friday).

[Whatsthatsmell]

Make any cool diaper videos with it? 

[feralfreak]

9 hours ago, Whatsthatsmell said:

Make any cool diaper videos with it? 

with ladies? and with*looks left and right* naughty stuff? hahaha

[rusty pins]

On 7/14/2021 at 4:04 PM, LonesomeLamp said:

That barrel type is massive, but I may be able to find a car long enough to sit it in. Keep in mind N scale is friggin small. Some cars, the entirety of could fit in just the palm of your hand. I’ll add the barrel camera to my wishlist because I might could use it (and also it’s just cool). Another thing too, I don’t want the camera being mounted to be too wide. Eventually I plan to put a tunnel back up (we’re gonna go look at tables Friday).

In fact, with N scale you could fit several cars in the palm of your hand!

[Crinklz Kat]

Ok, I forgot about you doing N scale.  Yeah, that's gonna be tough.

[DailyDi]

On 7/13/2021 at 8:04 PM, Crinklz Kat said:

GoPro or similar camera!  Here's one of my Hero5 cameras on an HO 50' gondola (it's unassembled) for size reference.  A flat would obviuosly be better.  There are smaller versions than this, but it's hard to beat one of these.  The battery will last plenty long enough. 

 

There are also "barrel" style cameras that might be a better option.  Could probably fit perfectly inside a tank car.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114620962015?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item1aaff114df:g:z1sAAOSwIqlfrJkK&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACgPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSD7krDaPk%2BwD1W%2Fj2C4MT36vYXXsEKMBAFPpZdG8%2Bi0sKqLGqBbZiUZ8oNeK%2FsPpQhYqQd3eL7RRxQsmD8bhLQ9xlVbbnxh7Bpr6YVeWzieM9YBbOoT1pIRBbt1OnDZqmbvlu8maq4ZG31Z6JVJ0MQyPcVITujIylfBWguWERF9p3aYJCOVhNGpe9zDsM1HMdSzAITOwHPapufUPkYaxwzms1UVfqeMtJavnP%2FItKriSslhRSKDSfTY10b4OpTNEMNjFbXsNlen93ChmzBxatW4TSVrV7sVTXRhsapHIttS4oMh3XkXkFcotz%2Bn3ghkJhJQjl2ZJFBpqLa7HXoZzycPEI1q4g618WLG1nn4FsMssnnSor2B166zgkTiJatdUF%2F0bp%2FSx4aeoIf36%2BPvhGX0t63Zp4o5ixk1PGlHlFF%2FKERW%2FM3f4AqI8e%2BQSExFegcDpVE%2Bp6gUHhQe3FFtqBwp9vOomeP3bKtLTzGL59hilsL7bM67IQs7%2FkkdsE6RBLNepIFXV%2FUMn1w1dGDGwV12MjOcvqoRixckd1QYN%2FjAJ3e2uxgg3VYVd%2FIgNZ2AuxFUKNH5h9GrIQ057opFfvKMoGszocfjJjBDsoTT6AWp3ORY1%2BXBkhe78mIUqFaun3vl3x41XdWYaPHCte3xOEjk9c%2BxJQv8YIiYF71Oe3jPv0Mu1aOYvOiNhFtuFD8y1vT1zXTYS%2BttA7I7lz8rT5XihxFX9ERGK7d7LbTnYRV9RSnQgZflXB16q6EVyoIVdXUTl5z%2BlgauBTUryd6QuS8r21ml9TSxZPTsEFjPd5ucA%3D|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2499334

A polaroid cube would work well for trains. Not as wide or deep. https://amzn.to/3hFAIWZ