Can anyone recommend a good video camera? Want to get something reasonably good that doesn't cost the earth...already have a gopro and nice SLR (its a bit old but its good for stills)...must be small and have a good zoom to shot surf..cheers!!

A mate has bought the Nikon Coolpix P900. Around $700-$750.
Is really good quality, both photo's and video. Massive zoom, equivalent to a 2000mm 35mm lens and high def. video 1920 x 1080
Worth a look, could replace your old stills as well.
www.nikon.com.au/en_AU/product/digital-compact-cameras/performance/coolpix-p900

I have had 40-50 video cameras over the years.

Get a Panasonic for around $300- $400. They last forever, have a great zoom, are compatible with everything and have intuitive menus.

Which model Drip? 300-400$ sounds like a steal !

How is their auto focus on a crisp blue sky day?

+1 for panasonics...I was very happy with my Lumix FZ150 & the Fz200 I currently have, great simple to use point & clicks with very fast auto focus. Good bridge cameras that don't require a quiver of expensive lenses filling your bags...the FZ70 looks like good bang for buck. The 300 & 1000 are also worth reading the reviews but cost about twice as much.

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MickPC said..
+1 for panasonics...I was very happy with my Lumix FZ150 & the Fz200 I currently have, great simple to use point & clicks with very fast auto focus. Good bridge cameras that don't require a quiver of expensive lenses filling your bags...the FZ70 looks like good bang for buck. The 300 & 1000 are also worth reading the reviews but cost about twice as much.

FZ200 for me too, 24x optical zoom comes in handy at times, lately for Pup's booty zooms while he's supposed to be official 'surf' photographer.

Lumix also, TZ70

Thanks guys!!

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vanders1 said..

MickPC said..
+1 for panasonics...I was very happy with my Lumix FZ150 & the Fz200 I currently have, great simple to use point & clicks with very fast auto focus. Good bridge cameras that don't require a quiver of expensive lenses filling your bags...the FZ70 looks like good bang for buck. The 300 & 1000 are also worth reading the reviews but cost about twice as much.

FZ200 for me too, 24x optical zoom comes in handy at times, lately for Pup's booty zooms while he's supposed to be official 'surf' photographer.

You sir have one of the best bang for buck bridge megazooms of all time

I left it a little late buying mine. Wanted to buy it duty free but Australian stock ran out due to the models discontinuation & I had to order it from the US (B&H).

Unfortunately the battery life which is very important to me dropped down from 540 to 380 shots with the FZ300 which is otherwise also a great camera.

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LanceF said..
Lumix also, TZ70

The TZ's are great compacts. We had a TZ30 & currently have the TZ50. Takes amazing shots with all the diff scene modes

This is the sort of thing I was talking about. More portable and user friendly than an SLR, excellent battery life with upgrade able batteries another option, and a surprisingly good zoom. I can't complain of the surf footage I have got with these things.

Helps if you post the link too

www.panasonic.com/au/consumer/lumix-cameras-video-cameras/video-cameras/hc-v180.html

This is exactly the sort of thing I have been hoping to pick up for about that price but did not know where to start - as there are so many options. Thanks Drip - much appreciated. How do you find using something like this without a viewfinder on a bright sunny day ?

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Ted the Kiwi said..
This is exactly the sort of thing I have been hoping to pick up for about that price but did not know where to start - as there are so many options. Thanks Drip - much appreciated. How do you find using something like this without a viewfinder on a bright sunny day ?

Obviously not cinema bright, but it's no worries at all.

Cheers. Sounds perfect.

I am completely sold on these Panasonic's after doing lots more research over the weekend. I have been blown away by the zoom capability of these sensors. And these are at the low end of the price spectrum. I would love to have a longer lens for my DSLR - but after looking at these there is no way I will bother. Give me a Panasonic camcorder ! They are not perfect but for the price they seem unbeatable to me. Thanks Drip for the heads up.

+1 I did a little research on that camera & was very impressed with its battery life & video performance. Bloody good camera for under $300

You can get them for under $200 Bargain

www.2ndsworld.com.au/panasonic-full-hd-camcorder-6-id-HCV180GNK

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MickPC said..
+1 I did a little research on that camera & was very impressed with its battery life & video performance. Bloody good camera for under $300

And that's with the tiny battery it comes with. You can buy really big batteries that take the battery life out to 5 hours. And the big batteries are still pretty small in the scheme of things - tiny in comparison to SLR battery packs.

+1 on the Coolpix

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thedrip said..

MickPC said..
+1 I did a little research on that camera & was very impressed with its battery life & video performance. Bloody good camera for under $300

And that's with the tiny battery it comes with. You can buy really big batteries that take the battery life out to 5 hours. And the big batteries are still pretty small in the scheme of things - tiny in comparison to SLR battery packs.

Would of been great with the soloshot, the soloshot transmitter was 3.5 hrs. Think the included cameras with the soloshot 3 are similar to this one.

Ted that place is $205 (with deleivery) for a shop demo with only 6 mnths warranty, I'd pay the extra $90 from a bricks'n mortar shop like Office Works with a 12 month warranty.

Great Post!

You would pay an extra 43% for a 6 month electronic warranty - really? At that price they are almost disposable. If you look at the spec's between the 160 & 180 then the 160 is pretty exceptional value at $149. Now that's really really cheap.

you can buy some pretty cheap batteries on eBay that have much longer record time. I have similar ones for my DSLR and never had any troubles with them.

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Ted the Kiwi said..
You would pay an extra 43% for a 6 month electronic warranty - really? At that price they are almost disposable. If you look at the spec's between the 160 & 180 then the 160 is pretty exceptional value at $149. Now that's really really cheap.

you can buy some pretty cheap batteries on eBay that have much longer record time. I have similar ones for my DSLR and never had any troubles with them.

Yes I would pay about 33% more for a brand new 180 from a bricks & mortar shop I can simply drive 15 mins down the road to in case of any problems & speak face to face with someone representing Office Works rather than a demo model/factory reworked or refurbished camera with a 50% less time "supplier warranty". Absolutely...Its not much more money & for me offers less chance of failing to catch the digital memories I bought it for. I often pay more for an extended warranty on a lot of electrical products, things break down not long after the warranty period so often these days. I wouldn't on this cam, but I would like a new one with a full warranty for a little more money yep.

Batteries are a separate issue I totally agree with, the last 4 digital cameras I've bought since 2008 have all had 3 or 4 back up generic batteries I purchased from E-bay. Still worth shopping around & trying to find reviews for the manufacturer as some can lose their holding charge faster than others but yeah. They can often be picked up for about 25% of the cost of the brand name batteries.

Just my 2c on the camera option bro, all depends how you look at it I guess.