Camcorder and ActionCam - for Youtube

[legacy]

Looking for my first Camcorder because I am tempted to open my Youtube Channel, hence I need something for filming stuff. Basically indoor stuff, but also some outdoor stuff.

I am tempted by the Sony FDR-X3000R, but I dunno ... and I might also need ActionCam.

Open to opinions and advice 

[wilfred]

Action cams have strong peripheral distortion where the straight lines bend and bend quite a lot as you get nearer the screen edges. This is acceptable if you're filming surfing, skateboarding and similar outdoor activities. I can't imagine it is ideal for all but very selected indoor use.

The Sony you mentioned is an action cam and from just one video I saw it looks like a good one.

Some youtubers make effective use of a phone camera. Why not try that if you have a good one already.

What sort of indoor stuff? From What I have seen I think the camera is less important. Better to concentrate on good lighting and sound. And a tripod to hold the camera steady.

If you have something interesting to say then make videos with whatever you have. I was looking to fix my printer the other day and only found one video. It did the trick but I wished for the camera to be steady and the image to be a bit better lit. But I still watched it.

Here is a video that uses an action cam, I think it is a poor choice for this type of video. But it will still be watchable. The sections in the sandblast chamber are a good use of the wide view and close range an action cam can give. So you need to pick your weapon carefully.


For comparison here is a similar video but filmed without the distortions of an action cam. It also shows there is no need for voiceover. Over 3million views in 2 MONTHS. I had no idea this was a thing until YT recommended it. Obviously I'm not alone in being nostalgic for the toys I had.  Check out Marty's Matchbox makeovers too. He's been getting creative of late. I just goes to show the people who put in for their audience can succeed.

[Red Squirrel]

I use a Canon Vixia HF R800 for general recording, it's not super good, I find the quality is basically about the same as a phone, but it's a fairly cheap camera and it's nice to have a dedicated device that can be put on a tripod, without tying up you phone.

I use that along with a Gopro session for other shots.  An actioncam like a Gopro is not really great for the main footage but it's ok for say, a time lapse of what you're doing, while you still use the main cam for main shots.

If you want to get an idea of quality you can check my channel, most of the ones done after my review of the camera were done with the camera and/or the gopro session.   At least all the scenes with me talking. The time lapse stuff is kinda a mix.  The water melting and stuff are also done with the Vixia but the construction related ones might be also the Gopro.  The Gopro is going to be lesser quality.

The biggest thing though with video camera is light.  The time lapse ones where it's water melting and stuff were done in a set environment where I provided tons of light so the quality is actually pretty good.

[legacy]

Some youtubers make effective use of a phone camera. Why not try that if you have a good one already.

my phone is an old Motorola V600. It cannot be used for filming, it's a very very old phone (bought in 1999). Yesterday I got impressed by the last iPhone 11. Not too bad with its 3 sensors. But it's expensive.

What sort of indoor stuff?

I'd like filming some video about the crazy hardware stuff I am making, but I'd also need something to show what's on the computer screen, and since I have planned a couple of new trips abroad, I'd also like filming something outdoor.

From what I observed on YouTube, it seems that filming some good videos which show what is on the computer's screen is not as easy as one imagines ... 

-

I got the chance to "try" the last "mirrorless APS-C" made by Sony when they presented the Sony Alpha A6600 (1500 euro) in Copenaghen. I pretended to be a journalist and I tried a unit equipped with the APS-C optic "Sony SEL1655 16-55mm F2.8 G" (1300 euro) and ........ the first impression was a WOWWWWWWW, because I was able to make a couple of shots (even of what was on my laptop screen) with a good sharpness at full aperture, even at the corners, hence I immediately fell in love with that, except filming with that camera + optic would cost an eye of my head.

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1500 +  Sony Alpha A6600
1300 =  Sony SEL1655 16-55mm F2.8 G, APS-C optics 
------
2800

a cheaper option for the optics I have tried myself and found interesting

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1500 +  Sony Alpha A6600
0770 =  Sony SEL1018 10-18 mm F4.0, APS-C optics
------
2270

(unfortunately my current budget is ... 600 euro)

From What I have seen I think the camera is less important. Better to concentrate on good lighting and sound. And a tripod to hold the camera steady.

Yup. I agree.

[legacy]

An actioncam like a Gopro is not really great for the main footage but it's ok for say, a time lapse of what you're doing, while you still use the main cam for main shots. y is actually pretty good.

New models got presented in Paris something like 2 months ago. Maybe the quality (the price for sure) has increased


I'd like to see a  Xiaomi Yi in action and try it myself. From what I read on reviews, it seems cheap (even when imported from China), it offers more camera features and better video and photo quality than you'll typically find at its price (better than GoPro? yes, but .. better than the last GoPro? Who knows ...). It has a removable battery and a standard 1/4-20-inch tripod mount, and the Micro-HDMI port supports live video output while recording to a microSD card, but there is a serious problem anyway: the instructions and parts of the mobile app are in Chinese, so it'll require some minor guesswork when starting out if you can't read Chinese.

[mariush]

Don't get action cams for indoor stuff, like people above said they have wide angle lens and will distort at the corners.

Look for something with an external microphone input (either stereo trs/regular jack input, or an easy to buy adapter from input like Sony's "shoe" connectors) It would allow you to add a lapel microphone directly to your camera, instead of recording your voice separately with an audio recorder and having to sync your audio track to the video every time.
 
Next, I'd look for one which allows adding lens to the camera. It would allow you to add a macro lens if you need to do closeups.

On the would be nice list, maybe consider getting one which has some motion stabilization, that would allow you to use it in motion outdoors without necessarily using a gimbal.

I bought a Sony CX-410 a few years ago... has stereo mic input and the standard sony shoe , has thread to add extra lens, has servo motors inside which move the whole lens mechanism for motion stabilization besides the classic digital stabilization (which can be disabled)

I agree with the others that lightning of the location where you record will actually matter more than what you record with. A good microphone helps a lot.
For the future, consider doing something about echoes and reverb, lots of people buy those squares that go on the walls and dampen echoes,



Here's video showing this servo motor stabilization:

[legacy]

A good microphone helps a lot.

Any advice for this? I have literally zero experience with microphone, except a circuit I made 10 years ago to down-modulate an ultrasonic microphone's range into frequencies audible to humans.

It was a crazy project made to help my father to find a defective cooling fan by hearing the sound it makes. My father's business is about building cooling fans for the avionics field.

I mounted an ultrasonic microphone and my PCB in a plastic box on a tripod with the audio cable attached to the sound card of a mini laptop running Linux and Octave, which processes the data stream to say "it sounds like a good cooling fan", "it sounds like a defective cooling fan".

It has been helping since then.

[legacy]

I bought a Sony CX-410 a few years ago... has stereo mic input and the standard sony shoe , has thread to add extra lens, has servo motors inside which move the whole lens mechanism for motion stabilization besides the classic digital stabilization (which can be disabled)

WOW! The  extra lens is a premium! It's seriously great stuff, and I also see great second-hand deals!!!

[mariush]

If you don't mind used,  these are good deals:

140 UK pounds: Sony HDR-CX450 : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-HDR-CX450-Camcorder-Black/223800055483

another seller : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-HDR-CX450-1080P-HD-Camcorder-30-X-optical-zoom-used-twice-2-to-3-hours/174120027210

Has microphone input, headphone output, good sensor,  it has support to add lens, has hdmi output, has record at slower motion features, can transfer the files through wifi (my cx410 has no wifi), can be charged directly from usb or through separate power adapter...  does what my cx410 does except it doesn't have that servo powered motion stabilization.

It's a bit on the expensive side, but it may be worth it :

Sony FDR AX33 : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-FDR-AX33-4K-Ultra-HD-Handycam-Camcorder-with-3-batteries-VGC/193259457320

New : https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Recording-FDRAX33-Handycam-Camcorder/dp/B00R5LH9G0/

It has very good sensor, can record 4K @ 25fps or 1080p 50fps , supports lens, microphone input etc etc


 

[wilfred]

From what I observed on YouTube, it seems that filming some good videos which show what is on the computer's screen is not as easy as one imagines ... 

There are HDMI capture boxes available to capture computer screens that will do it far better than any camera. I bought a cheap one a few years ago and it works quite well if your computer doesn't have the grunt to do it internally at an acceptable frame rate.

You just search on hdmi game capture.

[mariush]

To capture the actual screen, you don't even need a capture card.

You can use OBS (same application that's used to stream games to Twitch and Youtube) to record instead of stream.
You can configure it to capture the whole screen and record it to disk using some higher quality settings.

There are also HDMI capture cards which can capture anything that's on a HDMI cable and not encrypted, which normal video card outputs should be (unless you're watching Netflix or playing movies or something like that)

You could install a HDMI capture card in your computer (or use an external hdmi capture card) and use a short length of HDMI cable to make the connection between your video card and your HDMI capture card.

Either use pass through feature of the capture card (connect monitor to capture card), or just configure your Windows to duplicate contents of your monitor onto the 2nd monitor (the capture card)

[Red Squirrel]

In Linux I use a program called Kazam for screen recording.  Though if you want to record at the low level (Ex: an OS installation) you want something that can split the output and then a recording device that supports that output as a recording input.  Ideally the recorder will have many different types of inputs so you can support even legacy stuff if you need to.  Depends what type of stuff you plan to do.  Ex: vintage computing stuff where you want to show the screen.

With a HDMI splitter I believe it will also get past the encryption so you should be able to capture literally anything.  I did this for my dad so he can get stuff off the PVR and store it on USB sticks as he likes to archive stuff like hockey games etc.

[legacy]

In Linux I use a program called Kazam for screen recording.

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My hardware setup is a bit "weird". I have designed and built a crazy machine that works on three VGA screens, but I need to film only the middle screen since it's the system console.

It's Linux-based, hence I might, in theory, integrate Kazam into the builder, and this will build a new stage4 with Kazam included in the new rootfs (it's en embedded machine, kind of big x11-terminal), I just have to consider if it's OK for my software setup (how many dependencies and if the kernel is happy to collaborate without introducing too much lag on the used PPC405, which is not exactly a "fast" processor), otherwise, I won't hesitate to use an external VGA-capture system, of which the only two problems are: they are a bit expensive tools (150 euro at least) and (looking at the StarTech.com "VGA Video Capture Card" kits) I do not want to use a Windows-only application for recording.

Thanks for the tips 

[legacy]

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media-video/recordmydesktop
      Homepage:      http://recordmydesktop.sourceforge.net/
      Manpage:       http://recordmydesktop.sourceforge.net/manpage.php

This seems to better fit my needs.  There is a flag to disable the audio (I don't need it), and flags to disable to the video data compression (on-the-fly) while recording. I do prefer the Image data to be cached with a light (or no-)compression, because this is OK for a low performance embedded CPU like what I am using.

Also, there is a special feature "-windowid id_of_window" to select the window-id to be recorded: perfect! This will save more CPU-cycles and ram


Without Alsa and Jack, dependenices are also only these (media-video/recordmydesktop): { media-libs/libogg media-libs/libvorbis media-libs/libtheora }

[EEVblog]

A good microphone helps a lot.

Any advice for this? I have literally zero experience with microphone, except a circuit I made 10 years ago to down-modulate an ultrasonic microphone's range into frequencies audible to humans.

Good audio is everything.
Any camera can take decent video given enough light and the right settings.
I use a Rode NT55 for behind the camera work.
A decent brand camcorders internal mic will be fine provided you are <50cm away from it.
For a 3.5mm input mic camcorder it's hard to beat the Rode VideoMic pro.
If you are doing voice over work the Samson C01U or Rode NT-USB are the go.

[mariush]

You can just get a VGA to HDMI converter and send the HDMI output to a HDMI capture card. There's even external hdmi capture cards, where you simply insert a SD card in the box and hit record and they'll record everything for you (but the video would not be lossless quality duh)

examples:

16$ (hdmi audio through stereo jack) : https://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Converter-Adapter-Output-Female/dp/B00K4W62R4/
20$ (audio through usb, shows up as separate usb sound card): https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Converter-Adapter-Support/dp/B00IDFGK1W/
15$ : https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Computer-Desktop-Monitor-Projector/dp/B07BKYBKGP/
35$ (hdmi audio from stereo jack): https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Laptop-Display-Computer-Projector/dp/B078NVJVVB/


You can find on eBay used Epiphan capture cards that capture raw VGA. These output raw frames so you get the best quality but keep in mind at high resolutions the framerate isn't high.

For example

Epiphan VGA2Pcie :
60$ : https://www.ebay.com/itm/Epiphan-VGA-XPCB-EPH06-01/323809459586
60$ : https://www.ebay.com/itm/Epiphan-VGA-XPCB-EPH06-01/323809459586

Does up to 1920x1200 , between 35fps and 85fps (varies with resolution)
There are some drivers for Linux and Mac here: https://www.epiphan.com/support/vga2pcie-documentation/?utm_source=Support&utm_medium=Web&utm_campaign=VGA2PCIe

They also made a USB version which is cheaper, but the maximum fps is lower, between 3fps and 28fps depending on resolution: https://www.epiphan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/epiphan-vga2usb-brochure.pdf

50$ : https://www.ebay.com/itm/Epiphan-VGA2USB-Video-Grabber/153765822515
60$ : https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OPEN-BOX-Epiphan-VGA2USB-External-Frame-Grabber/124001711121

[legacy]

Any camera can take decent video given enough light and the right settings.

I have to learn about lighitng for filming YT videos. ( but I am still digesting the article  ).

I use a Rode NT55 for behind the camera work.
A decent brand camcorders internal mic will be fine provided you are <50cm away from it.
For a 3.5mm input mic camcorder it's hard to beat the Rode VideoMic pro.
If you are doing voice over work the Samson C01U or Rode NT-USB are the go.

Thanks for this! I will look into Rodo-stuff.

Indoors filming is <50cm away from the camera, because I will probably install a tripod with a microphone in front of the desk, but there is a lot of background noise, hence I'd prefer a directional microphone (and maybe post-production software noise filtering).

Outdoor filming will have the microphone mounted on the top of the camera and the whole will be near to me, but it will probably go noisier, especially filming around Iceland because it's really windy. For this stuff, I think I will buy a physical filter to be put all around the microphone.

[legacy]

You can just get a VGA to HDMI converter and send the HDMI output to a HDMI capture card. There's even external hdmi capture cards, where you simply insert a SD card in the box and hit record and they'll record everything for you (but the video would not be lossless quality duh)

Standalone capturing boxes with an SD card would be perfect for me.
The screen is 1024x768x16bit@20fps.

[mariush]

You can just get a VGA to HDMI converter and send the HDMI output to a HDMI capture card. There's even external hdmi capture cards, where you simply insert a SD card in the box and hit record and they'll record everything for you (but the video would not be lossless quality duh)

Standalone capturing boxes with an SD card would be perfect for me.
The screen is 1024x768x16bit@20fps.

Look into devices like Avermedia Live Gamer Portable : https://www.avermedia.com/us/product-detail/C875
They can record directly to SD card.
It's not raw capture, they compress to H264 (mp4) or some format. This isn't so great if you have a lot of very fine sharp text and high resolutions but at 1024x760 that won't be a problem

There's a seller with new units on eBay for 80$  : https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-AVerMedia-C875-Live-Gamer-Portable-Capture-1080P-HD-Video-Capture/183855865615

Note this model has HDMI in and Component In, so you need to use a VGA to HDMI converter, or you may be able to find some VGA to component converter (but vga to hdmi would probably be cheaper)

[legacy]

Yesterday a dude suggested me to use the last Apple iphone 11 pro max as the all-in-one definitive filming and video-editing device

[Red Squirrel]

Phones are ok for supplemental video but definitely would not use it as primary.  You're always going to be trying to rig stuff if you want to film without holding it.  A proper camcorder with front facing screen that you can put on a tripod is going to be better.   It's not just about quality (cheap camcorders arn't all that better than high end phones) but about form factor.

As for editing on a phone... yeah I would not touch that with a 10 foot pole.  I can't even imagine trying to edit video on a phone or tablet.   I mean if you do very simple vlogs maybe, but anything more involved is way easier on a computer.

There are a few DSLRs that have good video features too including a LCD that flips out, I can't recall any models off top of my head though, but it's a route to look into.  Just make sure there is no recording limit, lot of them have a limit of how long you can record for.

[EEVblog]

FYI, for a myself and a lot of Youtubers, the Sony RX100 Mk4 (or later) is the "everyday carry" backup video camera, or portable vlogging camera.
I've shot many impromptu videos with it, and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference from my bigger Sony camcorder because it has the same 1" sensor. And the internal microphone is more than adequate for impromptu commentary.
You can pick up older models at reasonable prices, the newer models don't add a huge amount.