Cameras & Camcorders

[jlowrance]

Hi All,

 I have been lookin to purchase a camcorder and was curious if anyone knew if these were any good.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insignia%26%23174%3B+-+High-Definition+10.0MP+Camcorder+with+3%22+TFT-LC...

 I am looking to spend under $400 and want it to have flash memory and High-Def if possible. Or does anyone know if it would be better to buy another brand with standard definition instead to stay in this price range. Im kind of lost on this.

[Entropy · Accepted solution]

Quality control of Insignia camcorders is very hit or miss.  I bought one of the older "pocket-style" 720p units and it was basically useless - massive amounts of sensor noise and macroblocking, but not enough to prove to a returns lady that it was "defective" as opposed to "working normally".  She decided to be "nice" and waive the restocking fee, with a comment that "any LCD camcorder will have the same problems" - well every camcorder on the market can be described this way, and that units performance was definately NOT typical.  Even cheaper Aipteks had better image quality, unfortunately they tend to have loose batteries. 

I eventually went for a Canon HF100 a year and a half ago.  The current lowest-end Canon units are $500 for the HF-R100.  You might find one of the older discontinued units used somewhere - between the HF100 and the HF-R100, I'd personally go for the older HF100 (which had optical image stabilization.)

[jlowrance]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will spend a little more money and pick up the canon. Im sure the extra cost will be worth avoiding possible problems I might have with the Insignia. Thanks again

[Entropy]

Just as a note - the -R100 does not have optical image stabilization (which shifts lenses to stabilize the video), it uses electronic IS.  I'm not sure how well it works.  It's Canon's first high def model without full OIS.  (This is why I would reccommend the now-discontinued HF100 over the new R100.)

All of Canon's other units (-M300, -S200) do have proper optical IS, but are more expensive.