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Help me get a Good HDD Video Camera with Nightshot or Nightshot Plus.

post #1 of 4
3/20/12 at 12:40am
Thread Starter 
Hi, I am an armature photographer, I like traveling and like taking pictures of birds, landscapes, people and the occasional computer hardware but birds mostly. Anyhow I also enjoy making videos with family and friends. I had a few cameras over the years but nothing worth mentioning, currently looking to buy a good camera since right now I am borrowing a family members Camera which is a JVC Everio 40GB HDD Hybrid. I remember one of my family members at a family gathering who bought a sony video cassette camera back in the 90's that had a cool nightshot feature. There was a power outage but he still managed to take awesome photos and videos(even tho they were black and white), So I might also be interested in night shot.

Taking Photos is more like a hobby for me, so I dont want the best of the best, but I want something thats more than decent, something good and durable, with some zooming, nightshot and other features if possible and with good battery life and connectivity(eg. HDD Storage, USB Connectivity), that works well as a Video camera as well as a pretty good digital still shot camera. smile.gif
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post #2 of 4
3/20/12 at 5:40am
whats your budget. and almost every consumer camera available has the night shot feature now. its more of an effect i think on some whereas on other cameras its actually a very well working feature for super low light. without a budget noone can give you a proper recommendation
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post #3 of 4
3/20/12 at 9:07am
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Well Bud, I am actually a student and photography is more like a hobby for me, watching and taking pictures of birds. smile.gif I am trying to keep it under <$1000 but would prefer it to be somewhere under the < $500 mark. I know Its not the camera as much as its the guy behind it whos taking the photos. As far as nightshot, well I am planing to travel through thailand and parts of asia, that would be a great feature. I have heard about the nightshot pedo controversy and as far as I know Sony's original Nightshot that took such clear pictures in pitch black due to some infrared technique is not present in modern cameras anymore and that whats available is a watered down version or it unless I get hold of a their 10 year old video cassette cameras? I dont know how true is that and could be wrong tho, am I?

I should add I am also looking at the second hand market, so something that might be $1000 retail might be available at a lower cost for me since I might get one with less use.
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post #4 of 4
3/21/12 at 6:22am
well i just did a review of cameras for a friend in the $4000 dollar budget and a few of those had the infrered nightshot feature and even now had the offer for it to be in black and white rather than the green nightvision goggle effect.

this camera does not have the night shooting mode but with the improvement in cameras and sensors these days it seems to have been slightly phased out as low light shooting is more and more possible. this is only an example but this canon camera can get an exposure with a low as 1.5 lux of light which is pretty impressive

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/749193-REG/Canon_5117B001_VIXIA_HF_M40_Flash.html

after quick looking around on B&H i dont see any true night shot IR features on these cameras. most of the cameras today that have a true honestly night shot feature where you can get a clean perfect exposure in absolutely zero light is going to run you like $6000 minimum (that is just a guess, i admit i didnt look very hard because i didnt see it in most good cameras in that price range)

this panasonic offers what you are looking for and claims to be able to record an image with only 1 lux of light using the night shooting mode
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/749839-REG/Panasonic_HDC_TM900K_HDC_TM900_High_Definition_Camcorder.html

thats the only one i found. like i said image sensors have come a long way to the point where the average consumer affordable camera doesnt need to offer a night shooting feature anymore because our ability to shoot in low light has come a long way. i can look more for you later on when i find some time but hopefully this at least gave you a start
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