Best Digital Camera w/ movie mode for loud dark clubs

chadwick · Post by **chadwick** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:13 pm

I just got my backpack stolen with my trusty sony P-41 digital camera that I used to set on my amp or on a speaker and record 1.5 hours of mpeg4 . It had very good sound capturing and compressing a balanced full range. It was very poor in low light but always a trade off.

I have tried to replace the p-41 but newer sony's totally rolled off all low end below 800 or so, zero low end. My friends cameras all distort at loud volumes even though they look great in low light. I specifically tired the sony h1 and it had no low end.

I'm pissed that manufacturers don't publish max decibel ratings for their cameras, how hard could that be and what a big help for pros.

I'm now looking at the Canon S2 IS or S3 IS with impressive stereo movie mode. The draw back is the movie file size and time limit of 1GB or 1hour whichever comes first. LAME!

Here is the look and sound of the P-41 which for what it is I think sounds great. http://achadwick.com/media/ac%20in%20albuquerque.wmv Obviously I don?t need great quality just no distortion and a decent record of the evening. Hell, I might just ebay another p41 but I can?t believe there isn?t an improvement.

I also got the zoom H4 stolen with my backpack and I really enjoyed that for portable audio only recording.

So does anybody have a ringer that records a long time, sounds good, and does okay in low light?? Camcorders might offer a solution but I refuse to deal with mini DV. The hard drive ones look cool and the ones that record to memory are interesting but in general I really want the AA battery usage and portability of the digital cameras with movie mode.

Thanks so much for any suggestions.

darjama · Post by **darjama** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:36 pm

i picked up a panasonic camera specifically for the movie mode. It saves the movies as motion jpeg .mov files, and it's really high quality. It also shoots widescreen. The downside is that it has a limit of 2gb cards, which in widescreen mode at high quality gives you 20 minutes of recording before you have to change cards. I'm not sure if their newer cameras address this.

my camera is the tz1, 10x optical zoom with image stabilization.

trumpetgunk · Post by **trumpetgunk** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:58 am

The Canon Powershot series of digital cameras work on AA batteries and have a decent movie mode. They just came out with some new models for this year so last year's models may be available for not that much. I have the A610 which has a great set of controls in movie mode.

Your biggest enemy on the video quality is the lack of light. Why are you afraid of mini-dv camcorders that offer low-light modes? If you must avoid mini-DV, there's a new Panasonic HD camcorder coming out that records onto SD cards. The model number is the HDC-SD1.

I would recommend picking up another small two-track recorder for the audio side. No camera, or cheap camcorder, is going to match the audio options a seperate audio recorder gives you.

chadwick · Post by **chadwick** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 7:59 pm

On the cannon sd stuff, my GF has the sd600 and its awesome in low light and great all around size and features but...... It totally distorts at louder volumes, such as within 15ft of a snare/ and or pa, which is my main requirement.

Again would it kill Canon and the rest to just publish the max DB of their cameras?

My only hang up on mini DV is the time for time it takes to back up, copy, and edit, otherwise its hands down the best performance value for the buck. I just can't stand not being able to burn it quickly or access a few months at a time without sitting around waiting for my only player recorder camera to load movies.. And the searching for scenes or songs...... I'm tired just thinking about it.

The Panasonic camera looks great for 200 bucks at newegg.com.. I have to ask though if it distorts at loud volumes. I figure if it has a built in limiter circuit that can handle acoustic drums as the p41 did then it would suit me fantastic. Do you have any files posted from the camera? I do wish it ran on AA bateries though.. Thanks for the lead and keep them coming.

darjama · Post by **darjama** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:13 pm

the panasonic handles the volume pretty well. It doesn't distrort much at all, but the limiter pumps pretty well. I could post something for you, though the files are pretty big. and it's not our finest hour

.

Check radioshack, they were blowing these things out under $200 a couple weeks ago.

Professor · Post by **Professor** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 3:17 pm

Call me crazy and all, but why not a video camera that rolls onto drive or memory card instead of DV tape?
Just seems like it would make sense to look at gear designed to do that primary task.

-J

chadwick · Post by **chadwick** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 12:06 pm

Thats a good suggestion and I would consider any that some one would vouch for but I bought this one for that purpose and the SOB distorted horribly. So I don't trust them any more the smaller ones.

I just really love the portability of the smaller cameras and the quick turn on time, memory cards. I think camcorders and digital cameras are kind of meeting in the middle these days.

I would consider getting another camcorder but it just needs to come with a live sound recommendation. Know of one?

chadwick · Post by **chadwick** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 8:43 pm

Casio Casio Exilim Pro EX-P505

This one looks pretty cool, records in stereo and mpeg4.

Anybody have this or like it??

The Pansonic looks good too, I prefere mpeg4, .avi or .mpg to .mov though. Don't know why I never liked quicktime..

chadwick · Post by **chadwick** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 9:46 pm

This Casio is not acceptable for loud sound. The video is okay, pretty dark in low light but I'm used to that. I love that they did the stereo thing but they just pre set it for voice levels and no other option.

The model number is Casio EXP505 and Ritz is blowing them out for $170.

Here is a sample.

http://www.achadwick.com/user/store/CIMG0204.AVI

I'm mean for normal stuff this thing would be great but the low end is going to just rattle in front of a loud band. It would have been so easy to just include some gain settings on these cameras.

The search continues and this camera is going back tomorrow.

I'm still looking at the TZ1. Got any samples of loud music?

I would think I was expecting too much from a simple little camera but the sony p41 already did it all and was made years ago.. I can't believe thay are still going for 150 on ebay. I might just get one again though.

chadwick · Post by **chadwick** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:41 am

Well, I found a brand new looking sony from the same year with the same looking microphone and thats the one...

The pictures are functional but the movies are the most portable and best sounding on the market.

Not great from low light but I'll make do.

summersleep · Post by **summersleep** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:24 am

Do any mic "add-ons" work with those small digital cameras (As opposed to digital camcorders...?) Do they help get higher quality sound?

SONY COMPACT STEREO MICRO MIC JACK
http://www.fadfusion.com/selection.php? ... 0100401247
or this
Sony ECM-DS70P Stereo Microphone
http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/EP4470154.htm

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Best Digital Camera w/ movie mode for loud dark clubs

Best Digital Camera w/ movie mode for loud dark clubs

Thanks!

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