Camera advise

Looking for advise on purchasing a new camera. Something similar to the Canon Vixia line. I'm leaning towards a Vixia HF R700 right now, but just because that's what Campbell Cameras sells in their packages. If you could provide some sample footage or a youtube link to some footage, it would be much appreciated.

 

FYI - You can get a G20 refurb off Canon's site right now for $650ish. Probably a decent step up and can run a Lanc.

 

I agree with checking out a refurbed G20 I may be doing the same thing soon, but if you wanna save some coiun first and go cheaper i get it. I currently film with a Canon DSLR and a Canon VIXIA HFR400. Here is a video of a doe kill with the HFR400, sound came out really poorly due to having the gain all the way down and not knowing how to correct it at the time when editing, but the footage is decent and gives you a great idea of the quality. Good luck!

Here's the HFR400 rig I pieced together:


Select the 1080p option when viewing:

 

Sounds like a great deal, but unfortunately 650 is a bit out of my budget. Thanks though

 

Is the R400 an older version of the R700? I've been cruising around ebay trying to find a deal and I can get both for similar prices used.

 

I dont know much about either camera you are looking at. Campbell Cameras is a great place but alot of times you can piece together one of their packages for cheaper by looking around online and ebay. You pay a premium at campbells for them putting it together for you.

 

Absolutely. Ebay is going to save me hundreds of dollars on a $700 Campbell package.

 

The R700 should be a decent camera to start with. Definitely start small and build from there. If you decide you really like videoing your hunts then you can invest more. It has a low light mode and supposedly does .4 lux so you should be ok near dark but obviously a camera with a larger iris will do better. Decent camera that I use as a secondary is the JVC quad proof camera. Its does not have and external battery or microphone jack but it is water, dust and sock resistant. Generally you can pick one up for around 150 or less on eBay. Good luck..

 

I did look at the JVC waterproof camera but the lack of a microphone jack is a deal breaker for me.

 

The HFG20 was just on sale on the cannon refurbished site for 499. Keep watching they drop it to 499. quite a bit. Fantastic cam I paid 1500 when it was brand new.

 

I am looking to do the same with the g20. Is the zoom an issue for a mixed terrain midwest bowhunter?

 

My buddy has the g20. I have the Vixia Hfr50. I tried his and it seems to be a better camera for the most part. It does better in lowlight and has a manual zoom. However, the optical zoom doesn't go that far. My r50 had the better zoom. My camera is also smaller. But in order to turn my camera on I have to open the lcd display whereas the g20 has a peepsight and you can turn it on without opening the lcd.

So I'm not sure if that helps you or not! I will say this, I had the Vixia HF R52 and I know have the R50. R52 is not washer friendly,lol. The only difference is the r52 has a lot of internal memory and the r50 does not....and the r50 is a lot cheaper. I don't need internal storage when I'm using a 64gb SD card.

 

If you look at any professional camera, you will find that they either only have optical zoom or very limited digital zoom. There's a very good reason for that. Digital zoom does nothing more than magnify the pixels which does not produce a quality image. The more you spend on a camera, the less digital zoom capabilities that camera will have because in the simi-pro and professional video world it is not used.

 

Good information to know. Thank you!

 

And that is why I am in the forum. Learn something new everyday. Thanks!

 

Yeah. I'm looking to upgrade my Canon vixia hf41 to a G20 to mount I my bow but looking for something equal but smaller.

 

If you do end up going with something from the Canon Vixia R-series cameras, check out the previous year's version as well. I was looking them up recently for a friend, and there was surprisingly little difference in specs between the r700 and r600. You can often save some money without getting that much of a drop in quality that way.

 

Thanks, I was pondering going with the r600 to save a little dough and you just confirmed it. I missed on a couple last week on ebay that went for a good price.

 

Hey smitty, I have a like new r600 if you want it, let me know. Ill sell it for a good price.

 

Hey Smitty88, I filmed with the R600 during turkey season, here is a Turkey hunt where we bag 3 Gobblers on opening morning here in Virginia....
It does the job, but I do fine myself wanting more of a camera....But don't get me wrong, it does good video...

Good Luck
Creeks

The Triple - YouTube