Thinking of things the wifey can get me for my b-day. Thinking about getting a good quality HD vid cam for auto action and home vids (non-x rated you pervs).
All the recent rah-rah's about the GoPro with the exception of the so-so audio make me hesitant about that option. Plus, not so practical for just non auto/sport related video.

Looking for compact/lightweight, around $1K or less.
This one looks promising

Canon Vixia HF S11 Digital Camcorder reviews - CNET Reviews

 

Love our Vixia HF S11. We use it for soccer, wakeboarding, and everything else. The Canon line of HDs cameras is the best of the entry-level ones, IMO.

 

I have a Sony HDR-SR11. All of the videos I have posted on TS were made with it.

It does a great job. There is also an HDR-SR12 that has twice the HD space, but I have never run out of room on my SR11.

You can hunt down an SR11 pretty cheaply these days.

 

Noted. Thanks Russ.

Thanks for the rec, Dana. Can prob get a good discount on a Sony as my wife used to work for them (still has some connections). Although, I haven't been entirely happy with some of their electronics as of late. Will keep it on the list, though.

 

Be sure and look at whatever film editing software you will use, if any. My 16-year-old daughter is our in-house editor, and she uses Apple / FileMaker Pro. For whatever reason, the Canon was much more compatible with what she does than the Sony. Sony often goes the proprietary rout, including obviously on their memory cards, to their detriment IMO.

 

Hmm. Very good point. I don't use any fancy editing s/w, but it is strictly Mac for that stuff.

 

Just as an example.

I made these videos with my Sony and Power Director software (PC).

Downforce Media Presents "A Day at the Track: Fontana" on Vimeo

http://vimeo.com/1838971

http://vimeo.com/3330047

Another interesting option these days is that many high end DSLR still cameras have HD video capability.

I shot this with my Nikon D90.

http://vimeo.com/4234958

 

Canon T2i or 7D.

I'm actually holding back on everything purely video until I get some decent play time with one of these puppies.

 

Yeah, my impression from purely a layman's viewpoint, is that Sony is a better PC platform, and Canon is a better Mac platform. That may be completely wrong though. Would love to hear some of our resident experts chime in on that.

 

So would I