Good camcorder for long duration video recording

[Comosicus]

Hi guys,

I am looking for a budget friendly camcorder that can record continuously at least an hour at good quality (720p or higher). Ideally it should be available in the UK (I'm currently living in Ireland). I tried today with my Canon IX 200IS and the recording stopped after only 8 minutes at 720p. I know that all cameras sold in Europe have limits on their video recording time to prevent being taxed as camcorders, so I'm not counting on that category any more. Here's a short list of the features I want:

- capable of continuous recording of at least an hour at 720p or 1080p (preferably). Battery and storage should allow this.
- must use a file format that won't require me to jump through flaming hoops to edit it
- must not break the bank (a limit of 200 euro should be ideal)

I want to use it to record the presentations I make at various developer meetups I attend. So it will be used from a small tripod, at a constant distance from me.

Thanks for your time and help!

[Comosicus]

One extra thing I forgot to add: I will upload the videos to YouTube, either unedited, as the camera took them, or edited - I haven't decided on a software yet until I will know what I am dealing with. I guess this would require the camcorder to use MP4 format instead of AVCHD.

[Rogue 9]

One extra thing I forgot to add: I will upload the videos to YouTube, either unedited, as the camera took them, or edited - I haven't decided on a software yet until I will know what I am dealing with. I guess this would require the camcorder to use MP4 format instead of AVCHD.

YouTube takes AVCHD just fine. I use a Panasonic HDC-SD800 (bought in 2011) that works well for me recording long-duration things and uploads to YouTube work without a hitch. The longest video I've ever recorded with it was just shy of 23 minutes (I usually intentionally cut the recordings at 10 minutes or so and start again if needed just to keep uploads for taking days on end), so I don't know if it has some sort of video length limiter the way some other camcorders do, but if so I've never seen evidence of it.

[salm]

You could look into the way professional film makers do it and see if that suits you. That is, hack your camera, which is easier than it sounds.

http://www.magiclantern.fm

A lot of modern DLSR cameras have very good video capabilites. Like you said, they are often locked down to certain maximum length of recording.
However, you can install a programm called Magic Lantern on your DSLR to remove this limit. Magic Lantern removes a lot of other limits as well and implements a whole bunch of other features which are usefull for video and photography.
Magic Lantern is fully open source so you´ll have no extra cost. You simply download it, copy it to an SD card and boot the camera with this SD card.
It is legal in the EU and US.

I installed it my self a couple of years ago because my Canon 1100D only supports up to 3 autobracketing images at once. It works perfectly.

You will need a Canon DSLR (or the eos M which afaik is not a DSLR). The supported cameras are listed on the Magic Lantern homepage.

Now, afaik, the chapest option is either the eos M or the 1100D which are both a bit more expensive than 200€. I found the 1100D (also known as T3 or Rebel in some regions) for around 220 but perhaps you can get a good used one.

While I am no expert on video or photo cameras I think the optics you get in a 220€ DSLR are a lot better than the optics in a 200€ video camera and you get all the advantages that a DSLR brings with it such as easily being able to screw on all kinds of lenses and similar things. And it makes superb photos.

[Comosicus]

You will need a Canon DSLR (or the eos M which afaik is not a DSLR). The supported cameras are listed on the Magic Lantern homepage.

I already own a Nikon D3100 DSLR but the video time on it is limited to 10 minutes. I don't plan to switch over to Canon.

Thanks for the idea though.

[salm]

The Magic Lantern site links to a site that does the same thing for Nikon cameras. Perhaps it is worth a shot:

https://nikonhacker.com/

[Comosicus]

The Magic Lantern site links to a site that does the same thing for Nikon cameras. Perhaps it is worth a shot:

https://nikonhacker.com/

I checked their website and all they can do for a D3100 is to increase time limit to 17 minutes. Not really worth screwing around with the firmware.

[General Zod]

GoPros are decent for pure video. DSLRs aren't very beginner friendly and come with their own sets of problems.

[salm]

GoPros are decent for pure video. DSLRs aren't very beginner friendly and come with their own sets of problems.

Eh? Recording a video with a DSLR is pretty easy and Comosicus even has one, so that should be ok.
Also, what are the problems? I don´t use the video function that often but so far I´ve never had any trouble.

[General Zod]

GoPros are decent for pure video. DSLRs aren't very beginner friendly and come with their own sets of problems.

Eh? Recording a video with a DSLR is pretty easy and Comosicus even has one, so that should be ok.
Also, what are the problems? I don´t use the video function that often but so far I´ve never had any trouble.

Lower end DSLRs have a problem with rolling shutter if you need to zoom in or out during a shot. It's fine if you're just using one focal length, but it can be problematic. They're also not very good for anything involving the slightest bit of action.

[salm]

Interesting. Thanks.

[General Zod]

They're also not very budget friendly considering op's price limitations.

[Comosicus]

Hi guys and thanks for the ideas so far. I have a few things to add to what was said so far:

- session endurance is a deal breaker for me. I need to be able to record a continuous session of at least an hour. Thus it must be able to record a single file that large, have the space for that file and do all that without having to change the battery or recharge it
- the DSLR option is out for me. My Nikon D3100 can only record 10min of video at a time, no matter the quality. Even with firmware update from NikonHacker.com, it can only go as far as 17min. Buying another DSLR or even switching the brand to Canon is not an option
- from what I read it's difficult to download AVCHD on computer and edit the video. MP4 seems to be a lot friendlier in that direction

Last but not least, it won't be the end of the world if I can't find anything suitable. I will just have to keep recording at 480p (which reached a limit of about 50+ minutes in a test today before it reached a file limit of 4GB). Same file limit was for the 720p test at about 20+ minutes. Still don't know why it stopped at 8min yesterday, but considering the age of the camera, I am not completely surprised.

[General Zod]

Even low-end gopros offer a minimum 720p quality, and you can probably find one for under $200. It might have stopped after 8 minutes because of overheating, I've found that SLRs tend to suffer from a lot of heat buildup during long exposures, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was an issue for video.

[Comosicus]

Even low-end gopros offer a minimum 720p quality, and you can probably find one for under $200. It might have stopped after 8 minutes because of overheating, I've found that SLRs tend to suffer from a lot of heat buildup during long exposures, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was an issue for video.

The video of 8 minutes was done with my compact Canon. Today I ran it in two sessions - one of 20+ minutes at 720p and one of 50+ minutes at 480p. Although it is possible that it was a lot cooler in the office this morning then in that small room yesterday. I didn't consider the overheating possibility.

Is a GoPro capable of such long shots in one session? Is the audio acceptable at least?

[General Zod]

Even low-end gopros offer a minimum 720p quality, and you can probably find one for under $200. It might have stopped after 8 minutes because of overheating, I've found that SLRs tend to suffer from a lot of heat buildup during long exposures, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was an issue for video.

The video of 8 minutes was done with my compact Canon. Today I ran it in two sessions - one of 20+ minutes at 720p and one of 50+ minutes at 480p. Although it is possible that it was a lot cooler in the office this morning then in that small room yesterday. I didn't consider the overheating possibility.

Is a GoPro capable of such long shots in one session? Is the audio acceptable at least?

My experience with gopro is minimal unfortunately, but they're fairly popular and I believe the length of recording time depends on your battery and your sd card. Per their documentation page:

Recording time will vary according to the resolution setting used and the card capacity. Here are the average recording storage times for an HD HERO2 camera with a 32GB SD card:
1080p (30 fps): 4h 21m
960p (30 fps): 5h 26m
720p (60 fps): 4h 21
720p (30 fps): 8h 09m
WVGA (60 fps): 8h 09m
Reduce the record times to half for a 16GB SDHC memory cards.

[salm]

The QUMOX SJ4000 is supposed to be a good GoPro alternative where you don´t pay for the brand name.

[Rogue 9]

I have never had any problems with AVCHD. YouTube takes it just fine, and when I feel the need to edit it, Premiere doesn't have any problems at all.