What camera should I get?

CountryMouse

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I've been using a Flip UltraHD camera since January 2010. I needed to put a new battery pack in today, and it seems to be overheating with this pack as it's charging. I never had this problem before. ::sigh:: This camera is no longer supported, and I'm thinking I may have to get something else.

I'm looking for something that's easy to use, good enough picture and sound. I have an external mic I've used in the past, but a lot of times I just don't bother getting it out.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

CountryMouse
 
Do you want a dedicated video camera or something multi-purpose?

I guess all decent still cameras have pretty decent video capability these days, just mount it on a small tripod of some sort. I guess some camcorders have better microfones, but I would just use my still camera and mix with sound from separate recording.

Some dslr cameras have a hot shoe where you can mount an external microphone. I sometimes consider getting an external mic for my olympus pen mini, so didn't have to sync the sound when I dont multitrack anyway.

I once shared a flat with a couple of media students, they used a DSLR with external mic for projects - so i think that is a pretty solid solution.
 
I will just spam this thread with another post.

Given that you post here, I assume you don't have a DSLR camera, and that you are not in the market for one. If you were such inclined, you would probably have made other research.

If you have any point and shoot camera, you would probably have used that all ready.

Then you are probably either going to buy a camcorder or a point and shoot camera, depending on whether you want a still camera as well.

If you want a camcorder, I am of no help.
If you want a point and shoot, I researched the market a bit last year.

If you want to take clear pictures and video indoors, what you want is a big sensor and a low aperture. This often comes at the expense of low zoom ratio. In stead of 20-30x zoom, you will get 3-5x zoom, corresponding to the zoom ratio of the kit lens of a DLSR. If you take pictures of birds and other items requiring zoom, forget what I write and go for the zoom. But if 99% of your pictures doenst require zoom, why make them inferior to enable zooming?
The size of the sensor you will probably have to google, it is not the first specification they tell you. If they tell you the aperture, and it says like "f2.0" or lower, then it is the kind of camera I am talking about.
I don't know your budget, so recommending stuff is hard.
If I had no camera today, I would get the sony RX100. I never tried it hands on, but the specs and reviews are awesome. Even the older versions are almost $500, so it is not super cheap.
Bad thing is that it does not support external mic. Perhaps camcorders have better mics. I don't know.
 
Welcome back, Country Mouse. I look forward to your videos.
 
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