Well I have just recently decided to start videoing hunts. I don't have much in the way of equipment. I was using a JVC cheap camcorder I bought at Walmart. Well I somehow left it in one of my treestands for a couple weeks... Any the rain got to it and its done. I always hated the thing anyway. You could never tell if it was charging or not. Several times I went to use it after it being on the charger all night only to find it dead in the morning. So I am looking into cameras. The Canon VIXIA HF R600 looks nice due to the price but I am willing to spend a little more possibly. The G20 looks good to but is getting pricey for me. My other thought is for family trips etc. I have a trip planned coming up next summer to AK. If we do that trip I'd like to have another camera. Although we have a Nikon camera (just below a DSLR) that takes pretty decent pics and video. I'm torn here. I want to try to video my kids hunting and my own hunts too but not spend a ton. I noticed Campbell Cameras the R600 is the cheapest they offer. Just trying to make sure I am not missing something or will regret buying something later... I know this is probably asked to many times. Sorry just trying to learn
I didn't see anything about a LANC port. You are definitely going to want that. So you can hook up a separate one hand control of the zoom, focus, on/off, record, etc.
Yeah I was kind of reading about that. I don't see that it has that ability. However $750 for the G20 might be hard to swing this year. I was thinking perhaps get this one and use it as a backup/second angle later if I get into filming. Then I also saw the R60 and R62... Looks like basically the same camera with a few more features. I haven't found a side by side of the R600 , R60, R62 yet to see if I should go with one over the other. The R600 is $199 and the R62 is $329 on Amazon.
Best Buy has the R600+32gb card for $169 day after Thanksgiving....hmmm I am not sure that seems like a pretty good deal.
Here's how I look at it. You can spend $200-$300 dollars today and get something that is less expensive and doesn't perform as well as you would like, and eventually you will grow tired of it's shortcomings and end up spending more on a better camera later. In the long run, that's actually the more expensive route than to just buy the better camera first and skip that other stage all together. Low light capabilities is very important in hunting situations as we all know, so you really need to start by looking at cameras that perform very well in low light. The G20 is probably about where you can really start in that instance. You can get the G20 refurbished direct from Canon for about $100 cheaper. There have been several folks on here that have bought refurbished direct from Canon and they have all had good things to say about it. Here's a link to the G20. http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/vixia-hf-g20-refurbished
I have no clue if I'm going to enjoy lugging the G20 in for hunts and set ups...but will use it for Small Acre Hunting or worst case sell it as it will be gobbled up. I too was thinking of the R600 and others but this off season gonna look to buy a G20 from a buddy who is upgrading even further or get a refurbed G20 myself. The cost is a bit to chew and will most likely mean the Mission Venture will be my bow another year but rather not regret than regret.
I get the buy once cry once thing. But if I can get the Best buy price without getting trampled on black Friday (online) I may just get that. 170 with another 32 gb card seems to fit the bill for me for now. From what I read the r60 and r62 are just fancy bells and whistles (wife etc) that I wont use anyway. If the Alaska trip and all that expense was not coming I think I'd probably save for the G20. Guess I should talk to the wife and see what she thinks.
I purchased the Canon R400 a couple years ago From Campbell cameras. It has been a good camera for me. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know jack about cameras and I know even less about editing. I want a small simple camera that I can put in my pac with the camera arm and not feel like I'm carrying a bunch of extra crap out into the woods. Here is a video I shot with it to give you an idea what its like. Again I don't know jack and I'm sure I could be getting more out of the camera if I opened the manual.
Well I was out with the wife today... Stopped by best buy and they had the R600 for 169 with a 32gb card. So for now that is my replacement cam. Nice upgrade IMO. Gonna see how it goes running it this week. Still need a decent camera arm. I did get to hold the G20. That is a nice camera. But can't swing the cost right now or I would have gotten that.
