I need a Digital Camcorder with still shots.

[buddy_fuentes]

I'm not sure I'm in the right forum or not, so if not will the moderator please move me to the correct forum.

I am looking to buy a camcorder that I can record a scene and then go back and take a frame out. i.e. recording a person machining a block and take a frame or two and put in a power point presentation.

I would like to keep it around $500 or less if possible. I will be using it in a plant environment and it will take a beating over a years period.

Comments and suggestions?

 

[nola_]

GoPro Hero3.

Takes a beating, waterproof, and all kinds of other things. My favorite camera.

gopro.com

 

[RedStickChick]

+1 for the GoPro

Awesome little cameras.

/thread

 

[alpinehyperlite]

The gopro hero 3 has some great new options, but for now im just going to rock my gopro hero 2. Its never failed me before, and im not ready to dish out the cash for a new one quite yet.

 

[highstandard40]

I am looking to buy a camcorder that I can record a scene and then go back and take a frame out. i.e. recording a person machining a block and take a frame or two

Comments and suggestions?

Taking a single frame of video and saving as a still frame can be done with software, I do it with Adobe Premiere all the time. You can do it with any video format once the file is opened in Premiere.

 

[buddy_fuentes]

Thanks guys, how many mega pixels does the Hero have? I'll also look into the software, both would be of great help.

Thanks again!

 

[rockmup]

I do it in Windows movie maker with my replayXD all the time. Its the software not the camera

 

[alpinehyperlite]

I use windows movie maker with the go pro as well.

 

[nola_]

Thanks guys, how many mega pixels does the Hero have? I'll also look into the software, both would be of great help.

Thanks again!

gopro.com will answer all your questions

 

[jgreg]

I think it is 11 or 12 go pro 3 was 399 at academy

 

[alpinehyperlite]

$399? That's not right. It should be $299.

 

[buddy_fuentes]

Well I took y'alls advise and went to Cycle Gear on South Sherwood Forest Blvd. and bought the GoPro3 Black edition. The black edition is their latest and greatest camera. Several guys working there have the older versions of the Hero and loved it, but no one had any experience with the black edition.

I got it home and found out it didn't have an owners manual and needed to be down loaded from the Internet, it also needed to be updated from their site. I did both and put the battery on charge. The instructions are not very good, but with trial and error I was able to move forward. The two hour charge battery took over 24 hours to get a full charge.

Finally with updates, battery charged, and owners manual in hand I was ready to shoot a little film. I took photos of my wife decorating the house for CHRISTmas and of our trees. Then I videoed my dog and the television to get a feel for a camera with no view finder. To my surprise I had to take out the micro card to get the photos and videos to my computer. Then the biggest surprise, my still photos made the walls appear curved! If my wife was moving when the photo was taken...it was BLURRED! The still photos looked like I was photographing through a fish bowl. And when I tried to view my videos I was shocked that they had nothing but audio. So I tried everything again with the same results and again to make sure. I read the manual from front to back to see if it was something I could do...NOPE!

So I contacted customer service, by email, for the camera and they told me that they would get back to me in one to two days. By this time I had spent $400 for the camera and bought a 16 gig card...so I was a little ticked off and decided to get the store to resolve the problem.

I showed the guys at the store what was happening and they were shocked because they use the older model Hero cameras. They called customer service and got through to a tech....he really didn't have a clue to what the problem might be. He wanted us to email him the photos so they could be analyzed and he would get back to us.

I really didn't want to try to resolve the problem after all of this. I just wanted a camera that I could take from the box, charge the battery, and shoot pictures/video. I told the guys in the store that I just wanted to get my money refunded. They were super nice and agreed that the problems should be resolved before the camera is sold. They refunded me every dime and kept on apologizing for the problems. These guys are great to deal with and tried everything that they could to help. I really cannot say enough good about these guys and their efforts to help.

Cycle Gear, remember them if you need motorcycle clothing or accessories.

So I'm back in the market for a movie camera.

 

[rockmup]

I have an extra replayxd if you'd like to borrow it.

 

[RedStickChick]

Fuentes, I think you may have unfortunately gotten a dud. A lot of the instructions are online and its often trial and error. I took an entire video of a fishing trip thinking I did the right programming, but nope. I was wrong. Ya just have to get used to you.

Sorry you got the dud :-(

 

[buddy_fuentes]

Thanks guys. I'm in the market for something else and I need to buy before the end of the year for tax purposes.

Since I wrote the above tech support has emailed me twice wanting to help me with the camera. They told me that they will have all software loaded and a user manual with every camera leaving the factory in the near future. They seem to think it is a software problem. I really don't know and I'm moving on to another brand. What is a replayXD?

Thanks again guys.

 

[nola_]

Depending on the settings the edges will curve sometimes. I think it's a mix of a software issue along with operator error. If I knew how to post from iPhone I'd post sample pics. But gopro's are very user friendly. My 10yr old knows how to operate the various modes with ease on a hero 1 & 2.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

They are fish-eye lenses. It will be slightly curved edges.

 

[rockmup]

REPLAYXD is another point of view camera. It's much smaller than the others it only weighs <3oz. It does not have fisheye issues or any of the other issues that others have.
It can record 4hrs on a single charge.

Goggle them and take A look

 

[buddy_fuentes]

REPLAYXD is another point of view camera. It's much smaller than the others it only weighs <3oz. It does not have fisheye issues or any of the other issues that others have.
It can record 4hrs on a single charge.

Goggle them and take A look

The size really doesn't matter to me to an extent. It would be nice for it to fit in a pocket until needed. The "fish eye" does matter. My customers don't want distorted photos placed into their SOP's or training PPP. Clear and concise photos are the only acceptable means of describing a process.

I have been using a Cannon PowerShot A570 IS for years and it shoots good quality photos and video, but it is so slow. It is time for an updated model. I want something from the box that works,there is no software issues, good zoom, and it has as many mega pixels as possible.

I'm not here to bash the Hero, it is just not for me. I was just responding to the recommendations that I got when I posted originally.

Thanks again and I will check out the ReplayXD.

 

[rockmup]

The replayxd has NO fisheye.

I'm not bashing anything either. This is the only one I've ever used.

My offer still standsif you'd like to use one, if you decide to buy I can beat any price you'll ever find. I'm sponsored
by them under their shooter program and receive a significant discount that I
pass along to others