Dylan - which digital camera should I get?

[Ru88ell]

This is Dylan's forum, right?

Hi Dylan

Which Xacti camera do you use? Which others have you tried, and why did you end up with the Xacti?

Upon reflection, would you have preferred any other camera in the same price bracket?

Rgds
Russell

 

[dylanwinter]

V happy with the CA100

could not imagine a better cheaper camera

never leave home without it - even when walking the dog




of course if you are serious then you can't beat something with a bigger lens

most of KTL to date has been filmed in HDV



But now I have a panasonic 152 for work.

 

[Ru88ell]

Xacti CA100 it is then. Thanks Dylan!

 

[savageseadog]

Would it be a good camera for putting up on a racing yacht to record the action (and infringements)?

 

[dylanwinter]

yes

Would it be a good camera for putting up on a racing yacht to record the action (and infringements)?

battery life is about an hour

so it would certainly cover a start

battery life better in summer than winter

batteries charge a treat from 12 volt socket

spare batteries from ebay about £10 a pop

a 16 gig card will record four hours

this was filmed with the camera and using a tripod from Maplins bungeed to the pushpit

its sailing through the mud channel at troublesome reach on the Alde in suffolk









Dylan

 

[savageseadog]

Thanks for that I'll view it tomorrow as I'm on restricted bandwidth at the moment

 

[Monique]

I too seek a new HD video cam. Looked like the one for me too until I read the attached.

True, there are good bits but also some serious flaws...

http://thereallymobileproject.com/2010/10/review-sanyo-xacti-ca-100/

 

[Heckler]

battery life is about an hour

so it would certainly cover a start

battery life better in summer than winter

batteries charge a treat from 12 volt socket

spare batteries from ebay about £10 a pop

a 16 gig card will record four hours

this was filmed with the camera and using a tripod from Maplins bungeed to the pushpit

its sailing through the mud channel at troublesome reach on the Alde in suffolk









Dylan

Bootiful!
Stu

 

[webcraft]

battery life is about an hour

so it would certainly cover a start

battery life better in summer than winter

batteries charge a treat from 12 volt socket

spare batteries from ebay about £10 a pop

a 16 gig card will record four hours

this was filmed with the camera and using a tripod from Maplins bungeed to the pushpit

its sailing through the mud channel at troublesome reach on the Alde in suffolk
Dylan

You've convinced me Dylan, I will be getting one in the not too distant - certainly in plenty of time to record our Summer cruise and TCM's 109th Transat on Mojomo.

Amazon is the cheapest place to get it, so why not put an ad with your Amazon link on KTL and make a little commission?

(I'll even click through from it 'cos I can't click on my own Amazon links )

- W

 

[idpnd]

Good point from the negative review linked above:

You must use a Class 10 SD card for Full 1080p HD video, and recording 1080p on anything less results in jerky video that skips every few seconds as the SD card’s buffer chokes on the hose pipe of 1080p bits the camera is trying to throw at it.

That's exactly what's been happening to me, so watch out on the SD card front!

 

[st599]

I too seek a new HD video cam. Looked like the one for me too until I read the attached.

True, there are good bits but also some serious flaws...

http://thereallymobileproject.com/2010/10/review-sanyo-xacti-ca-100/

Video quality in low light is a function of lens size and sensor size - can't really blame the Xacti for that.

 

[dylanwinter]

funny camera reviews

I too seek a new HD video cam. Looked like the one for me too until I read the attached.

True, there are good bits but also some serious flaws...

http://thereallymobileproject.com/2010/10/review-sanyo-xacti-ca-100/

well it is a tiny lens - so its not going to do a great job of low light - and unlike a stills camera it has to be running at 25 frames per second - so there is no scope for slwoing the shutter speed to capture more light

as for getting the right card - what can I say - use the right card

Its been a great camera for me - but as the man on the horse says.... it will never do as well as a big format camera.

as for Troublesome Reach on the Alde - pretty good place to sail I reckon - two more films from the Alde, Ore and Butley on the front page of the website

Dylan

 

[BlueChip]

I have just bought a Kodak Playsport Zx3 from Simply Electronics.
Waterproof to 3m, full HD and is available with an IR remote control which I dont have yet but will order. The camera cost just £82 delivered which is a lot less than the Sony.

I have in mind mounting it on a pole at the transom looking forward, being able to start and stop recording using a remote seems quite a useful feature to me.

It comes with a HDMI cable and plugs straight into my HD TV, the picture quality in HD is quite amazing. I'm using it with a regular 4GB SD memory card out of my phone and had no problems with picture juddering, it gives me about 45mins recording.

I did get a Xacti before from Costco and was going to give it as a Christmas present for my son, but after playing with it a bit, the low light picture quality put me off so I took it back for a refund and gave him something else.

 

[tom_sail]

Probably the best HD(1080p), small, attachable to mast/helmets and waterproof (180 feet/60 meters) camera is the Go Pro Hero HD. Amazing bits off kit.

http://gopro.com/cameras/hd-helmet-hero-camera/

Used mine from filming in death valley to husky dogging in sweden at -35 celcius no problems at all.

Highly recomend if your looking to film from different angles. E.g top of mast.

A friend of mine tied one do his anchor in the med which was interesting to watch.

 

[Marmalade]

I too seek a new HD video cam. Looked like the one for me too until I read the attached.

True, there are good bits but also some serious flaws...

http://thereallymobileproject.com/2010/10/review-sanyo-xacti-ca-100/

Hey - unless you're a top pro I'd ignore the review and go with Dylan's recommendation. If you get anywhere near the stuff he shoots you'll be delighted I suspect.

 

[dylanwinter]

shucks

Hey - unless you're a top pro I'd ignore the review and go with Dylan's recommendation. If you get anywhere near the stuff he shoots you'll be delighted I suspect.

but its not all shot on an xacti

some of it is shot on one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-AG-HMC151-AG-HMC152-AG-HMC154-Camcorder/dp/B002EHS4TG

which costs more than the slug - but I use it for work

I ahve to say though that when the oight is good I freely mix shots from the xacti at £200 with the big panasonic which is over ten times the price

Dylan

 

[st599]

Hey - unless you're a top pro I'd ignore the review and go with Dylan's recommendation. If you get anywhere near the stuff he shoots you'll be delighted I suspect.

There are at least two cameras used there. The colorimetry is different, there's a slight chromatic abberation on one, the compression artefacts are different, one is CCD, one is CMOS......

Try looking at the Go Pro HD Hero for a stunning little waterproof camera.

 

[dylanwinter]

never used one...

There are at least two cameras used there. The colorimetry is different, there's a slight chromatic abberation on one, the compression artefacts are different, one is CCD, one is CMOS......

Try looking at the Go Pro HD Hero for a stunning little waterproof camera.

you should certainly try lots of cameras before buying one

Dylan

 

[jamesjermain]

Dylan, the reviews criticise the control buttons, particularly the still picture shutter release. Is this a legitimate moan?

 

[dylanwinter]

I use mine wearing gloves

Dylan, the reviews criticise the control buttons, particularly the still picture shutter release. Is this a legitimate moan?

I operate mine wearing gloves

there are obviously lots of deficiencies and it will never be as good as a dedicated non-waterproof camera of any sort.

The flip out viewfinder is a bit shiny so you do get reflections in it - that aside.....


I used to work as a hack at farmers Weekly and wrote reviews for tractors and pick up trucks

You had to find things to criticise to balance the paragraphs of tec stuff....

One of the classic crits for the pick up trucks was that you could not change gear wearing size 12 wellies - the farming equivalent of the sailors glove test

for me the xacti passes the glove test

would I use it for work.... given that KTL has become work... then I guess I do... but if I were being taken on as a stills man for a day I would not turn up with the xacti - although its my guess that if the light was good it would be hard to tell that everything had been shot through a postage stamp sized lens

having said that the fact that it is waterproof and can live in wet anorak pocket, that it takes thousands of stills on cheap Gig SD cards, that the batteries last a long time and are cheap to buy and can be charged on a 12 volt cigarette lighter

it would take a lot to persuade me to give up the camera now - and if I drop this one 12 feet onto a slip again then I would order a replacement straight away

I have captured some wonderful personal memories with the camera

Dylan