Discussion:
Any consumer camcorders with viewfinder?
(too old to reply)
Terry Quinn
2009-12-10 16:05:54 UTC
Permalink
As my Sony D8 camcorder appears to be at end of life, I'm trying to
find a replacement. I do a lot of editing, and am intrigued by the
flash memory card camcorders, simply because most of my past problems
have been due to tape or tape transport.

But as I've looked at Sony, Canon, and JVC sites, it seems that none
of these come with an eyepiece viewfinder. They are all going to LCD
screen only. Since some of what I shoot are sports scenes, I find the
optical viewfinder easier to make good videos.

I'd appreciate any help on this (i.e. cameras with viewfinders, or
thoughts on shooting quality through LCD screens).

Terry
Richard Crowley
2009-12-10 16:35:04 UTC
Permalink
"Terry Quinn" wrote ...
Post by Terry Quinn
As my Sony D8 camcorder appears to be at end of life, I'm trying to
find a replacement. I do a lot of editing, and am intrigued by the
flash memory card camcorders, simply because most of my past problems
have been due to tape or tape transport.
But as I've looked at Sony, Canon, and JVC sites, it seems that none
of these come with an eyepiece viewfinder. They are all going to LCD
screen only. Since some of what I shoot are sports scenes, I find the
optical viewfinder easier to make good videos.
I'd appreciate any help on this (i.e. cameras with viewfinders, or
thoughts on shooting quality through LCD screens).
Perhaps you are looking at products with some budget figure
which you didn't reveal to us? My Sony PMW-EX1 certainly
has both a conventional eyepiece viewfinder as well as the
flip-out LCD screen.
Terry Quinn
2009-12-10 17:07:15 UTC
Permalink
"Terry Quinn"  wrote ...
Post by Terry Quinn
But as I've looked at Sony, Canon, and JVC sites, it seems that none
of these come with an eyepiece viewfinder.
Perhaps you are looking at products with some budget figure
which you didn't reveal to us?  My Sony PMW-EX1 certainly
has both a conventional eyepiece viewfinder as well as the
flip-out LCD screen.
Richard,

Thank you for that information. The Sony-Style site that I looked at,
which includes professional camcorders, did not list that model.

But you are correct, my budget isn't compatible with a $6000
camcorder, as I'm not a professional videographer.
Frank
2009-12-11 00:50:12 UTC
Permalink
On Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:07:15 -0800 (PST), in 'rec.video',
in article <Re: Any consumer camcorders with viewfinder?>,
Post by Terry Quinn
"Terry Quinn"  wrote ...
Post by Terry Quinn
But as I've looked at Sony, Canon, and JVC sites, it seems that none
of these come with an eyepiece viewfinder.
Perhaps you are looking at products with some budget figure
which you didn't reveal to us?  My Sony PMW-EX1 certainly
has both a conventional eyepiece viewfinder as well as the
flip-out LCD screen.
Richard,
Thank you for that information. The Sony-Style site that I looked at,
which includes professional camcorders, did not list that model.
But you are correct, my budget isn't compatible with a $6000
camcorder, as I'm not a professional videographer.
Terry, it's as Richard and David have indicated.

There are a few low-cost models out there, however, that still have a
viewfinder. Take a look at the Panasonic HDC-TM300 AVCHD camcorder,
for example. (Note: max. bitrate is 17 Mbps.)

And if you didn't want to get away from tape, I'd suggest the Canon
HV40 DV/HDV camcorder.

Good luck!
--
Frank, Independent Consultant, New York, NY
[Please remove 'nojunkmail.' from address to reply via e-mail.]
Read Frank's thoughts on HDV at http://www.humanvalues.net/hdv/
(also covers AVCHD and XDCAM EX).
David Ruether
2009-12-10 17:23:32 UTC
Permalink
Post by Terry Quinn
As my Sony D8 camcorder appears to be at end of life, I'm trying to
find a replacement. I do a lot of editing, and am intrigued by the
flash memory card camcorders, simply because most of my past problems
have been due to tape or tape transport.
But as I've looked at Sony, Canon, and JVC sites, it seems that none
of these come with an eyepiece viewfinder. They are all going to LCD
screen only. Since some of what I shoot are sports scenes, I find the
optical viewfinder easier to make good videos.
I'd appreciate any help on this (i.e. cameras with viewfinders, or
thoughts on shooting quality through LCD screens).
Terry
The Canon HG21 still has an eyepiece VF, but it is barely adequate.
Sony makes the HDR-XR-500V. BTW, watch out for CMOS sensors
(both of these have them) with sports or other fast action (rolling shutter
distortion), and trying to edit 24 Mbps AVCHD (it ain't easy compared
with HDV tape...). I cannot shoot video as steadily (let alone seeing
well outdoors what I'm shooting) using a fold-out panel VF. I also prefer
a GOOD eyepiece VF (as Sony cameras used to have, along with
better audio than Canon in their small camcorders).
--DR
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