Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Disappointment...

I have recently been trying to find a decent high-range consumer camcorder that fits my needs, (And budget) when I was pointed to the Canon EOS Rebel T2i video-capable DSLR. Yesterday, I went to BestBuy in Bismarck, and was able to get my hands on one for a while and get a feel for the camera. WOW! I have to say I was impressed! I had taken along a SDHC card so I could bring home some footage for comparison with some other cameras, and I have to say the footage is very impressive. The difference between the T2i and a Canon HF-M31 which I also got some footage from is like night and day... The HF-M31 had terrible motion trailing, and poor stabilization compared to the T2i... I thought I had found something, until I read the following sentences from http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Canon-Rebel-T2i-Digital-Camera-Review-21736/Video-Features.htm :
 "However, the camera does have file size limitations of 4GB or 30 minutes — at which the clip will automatically stop recording when reached. You can begin recording again as a new clip, but you must press the record button to start recording again."
 That sounds like an annoying problem, but something that could be dealt with. The real deal breaker came at the bottom of the page when I read:
 "The T2i also suffers from overheating issues, which is something we've seen from most video-capable DSLR cameras. It is unclear how long the camera can record video before automatically shutting down due to sensor overheating, but we got an internal temperature increase warning from the T2i after roughly 45 minutes of continual use in video mode. When this warning appears, Canon recommends you stop using video mode on the T2i and let the camera rest, which isn't something you may necessarily be able to do if you're in the middle of an important shoot."

 Ouch! That I could not deal with, as I do mostly event recording which often ends up being a couple of hours at least.  O well, storing the footage from the T2i would have been a problem anyway, as it records at a bit rate of 47 Mbps! Even the standard definition footage is very large, at 22 Mbps it takes up almost as much room as most HD camcorders do! Needless to say, the quality is very good!
 So now I am back to browsing the web for the best camcorders that don't cost a fortune, while trying to save up a fortune to purchase one! :-) The search goes on... Anybody have a good suggestion?
  Andrew B.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't go with a digital camera anyway, if your purpose is video. The dedicated camcorder is much better, lighter, faster, more stable, and holds WAY more video.

Anonymous said...

hmmmm, the person above said go with a video recorder =)