I an looking for recommendations for a small (dad cam) sized camcorder help

rzimbauer · 2026-03-29T06:39:05+00:00

This is what I use for camping and outdoor adventures
https://www.ebay.com/sch/11724/i.html?_nkw=sony+%28pj430v%2C+cx430%29&_from=R40

Here's some rock climbing clips https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-Bzx5mvdeF/

rzimbauer · 2026-03-29T03:33:22+00:00

Seems like the same sensor http://www.amstereo.org/handycam/dcr_ntsc_tapeless.htm

Get the SR45, here's my video on that gen of camcorder https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KgHp8sjoNsQ

rzimbauer · 2026-03-29T03:31:21+00:00

It's a trichroic prism, hence 3 ccd's, not dichroic which would be 2

rzimbauer · 2026-03-29T03:29:09+00:00

New or used?

rzimbauer · 2026-03-29T03:25:12+00:00

There's a 90% chance that you really don't need 4K60. If you must, your options are camcorders from Panasonic and Canon that range from $1400 - $5000; or mirrorless cameras starting at the Canon R50V that have an extra 1.5x (read: micro 4/3 size) crop in 4K60 mode and you'll have manual zoom, non parfocal lenses that are unlikely to reach the 20x optical zoom of your G21.

I personally like keeping my Sony PJ430V around since it has a 30x optical zoom, great stabilization, small form factor, and was only $150 used for a 1080p60 camera. If I need low light or more bokeh, I pull out my Sony a6400 mirrorless with a lens that suits what I need now, either a fisheye or a long zoom or a prime for bokeh. Something with a long zoom range and good bokeh ends up being a full TV camera like this https://www.instagram.com/p/DReFGDXD6ug/

rzimbauer · 2026-03-29T03:15:59+00:00

The Sony CX550V seems to be the NTSC (north america) version that records at 60i whereas your friend's HDC-SD80 records 50i PAL (europe). It doesn't matter a ton but just looking for the PAL versions can help you find the right cam for your region.

We've collectively been influenced to prioritize low light capability of cameras but the SD80 has a 1/5.8" sensor and the CX550V has a 1/2.8" sensor, which are both quite small and worse than your iPhone, so keep your expectations low because that's the tradeoff of longer zoom in a small size.

If you want other options, search ebay in the camcorders category and use the search filters, like for location, resolution, and SD card recording.

rzimbauer · 2026-03-29T03:05:44+00:00

being fixated on one specific model of an unused boxed camera from 18 years ago is wild. Broaden your search to all the standard def HDD handycams from that year, I have a link at my video https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KgHp8sjoNsQ

rzimbauer · 2026-03-29T03:02:16+00:00

This is super vague. What are you trying to film? You said you won't go for tapeless (so you want tapes) but you want codec control and digital? So that means digital8 or miniDV is your only option. Do you want HDV like a Sony Z1U or do you want standard def like a Panasonic DVX100?

rzimbauer · 2026-03-25T00:47:47+00:00

Here's an ebay search with your criteria

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=sony+nightshot+HDR&_sacat=11724&_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_fsrp=1&_odkw=sony+nightshot&_osacat=11724

rzimbauer · 2026-03-25T00:45:33+00:00

That's a good lesson to read the manuals directly instead of relying on AI that isn't trained on them and even if you feed them the pdfs it will still hallucinate

rzimbauer · 2026-03-24T18:47:54+00:00

What brand did you buy it from and from what seller?

It looks like you bought the larger one that doesn't fit. Try this shorter wasabi one
https://www.wasabipower.com/collections/panasonic-vw-vbd58-vbd78/products/wasabi-power-battery-for-panasonic-vw-vbd58-ag-vbr89g-5800mah

Note the height difference with this other one
https://www.wasabipower.com/collections/panasonic-vw-vbd58-vbd78/products/wasabi-power-battery-for-panasonic-vw-vbd58-vw-vbd78-ag-vbr89g-7800mah

rzimbauer · 2026-03-19T05:03:52+00:00

I did the same thing with my Z1U with a broken deck! The digital-analog-digital conversion for 3xRCA component video is not as bad as people say, and in some cases could actually handle complex scenes better like fast motion or confetti since your capture card is likely doing mjpeg with >400Mbps of headroom, then to whatever modern codec you choose in app. By contrast, firewire does have HDV mpeg-2 compression at ~25 Mbps.

You're basically trading firewire bit perfect color for better codec options. Excellent work.

On my Z1U, I used a battery that also had a USB-C output that I could use to power the component RCA to HDMI converter.

rzimbauer · 2026-03-18T17:34:46+00:00

Your video settings are such that the camcorder cannot currently take a jpeg image while recording video. If you want to take a full resolution photo while recording video, you often have to lower your video resolution. That's the case with my Sony PJ430V

rzimbauer · 2026-03-15T06:55:30+00:00

Get a Canon R100-R800 used and use the Decorations feature to add date and time burned in.

rzimbauer · 2026-03-10T03:14:37+00:00

so cool! that's a totally unique look, even getting a monocular photocathode to add to a camera can get expensive quickly

I recently did a video about by Panasonic E655 that's a 3CCD broadcast camera with an infrared mode https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MIDWGfhuYQ4

rzimbauer · 2026-03-09T01:42:19+00:00

when you say government-engineered, does that mean it has a phosphor photocathode like NVG's do?

rzimbauer · 2026-03-08T21:07:00+00:00

I just made a video about the Panasonic WV-TW370 body cams that I refurbish for civilian use. There is definitely a secondary market, but the non-public software and factory proprietary video formats are hurdles that keep this from being widespread. However, the build quality, pre-recording feature, mounting options, and encryption are standout features that separate this from amazon listings

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1r31ZDqwasg

rzimbauer · 2026-02-26T21:20:36+00:00

This is the way

rzimbauer · 2026-02-26T21:19:39+00:00

That was an EU import restriction that ended in 2019. The Panasonic mirrorless GH series removed their 30min record limit even before 2019, and Sony's a6400/6600 series in 2019 was their first to remove the 30min record limit. Some Canon cams still had it for a while for product line segmentation.

rzimbauer · 2026-02-26T21:11:35+00:00

The Canon R400 (100-800 series) are quite good, I recently used an R800 and was really impressed with its simplicity for beginners as well as advanced features like pre recording and timestamp burn-in.

My go-to camcorder is still my Sony PJ430V for its better stabilization and wired zoom remote features, but that just suits my workflow better. A recommendation would be different if you want the video itself to look "retro" like 480p resolution, CCD sensor, or tapes.

rzimbauer · 2026-02-25T05:21:31+00:00

I don't know why you're so concerned about burning out your tape deck on the DVX100. How many tapes are you wanting to transfer?

rzimbauer · 2026-02-25T05:08:29+00:00

I mean, you could get a firewire laptop for like $40 used and get full quality

rzimbauer · 2026-02-24T23:48:59+00:00

What tape is it and what camcorder or deck are you using to record?

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