If it's your purpose to shoot wombats, the Canon R600 compact camcorder would be an excellent way to do it because it's got a 57x zoom that's deadly. I stood at one end of the room and zoomed to the screen of the computer at the other end and could easily read a twelve-point font.
Note: I don't want to shoot wombats. I'm not sure I've ever even seen one. If you do want to shoot one, how about taking an ocean cruise with the Dallas Safari Club ... on a ship that sinks. (That's the outfit that auctioned off shooting a rhino to Dallas richies, probably none of whom understand how much they are loathed.)
There's no substitute for good glass in a camera. Webcams, cellphones, etc have tiny little lenses and they do an adequate job of various things but real quality can only come when there's quality glass that can see it. If you're going to go out to shoot a lion with a camera, at least make sure it's got good glass in it. You'll still get eaten but the pics will be great.
Sony HDR AS-20 action cam at $150
The lens is the tiny reddish point in the center. Width is about 3 cm for the camera.
The camera is ridiculously easy to use as it only knows On, Off, Record. Don't dismiss this one too quickly, tho, as the picture quality is remarkably good. It's a fixed-focus lens but its flexibility is extraordinary, even in low-light situations.
For example, if you want to get some blowaway baby video, wear the camera on a headstrap and then do what you do normally with the kid. The video will be very close and the camera will see almost exactly what you see. Action cams aren't just for skydiving.
Yes, of course it's uncomfortable, Mom, but it couldn't be worse than carrying the little rotter around inside you for nine months and, even better, how they got the little monster out of you. I promise you'll get video of yer baby that you will treasure. wtf, borrow a cam from some skater kid as you won't need to shoot that much of it.
Just one thing: PLEASE don't put the video on Facebook. Quite apart from the sex perverts running about, Facebook butchers video by converting it to FLASH, a format only used by tabloids and porno sites. Put your video on YouTube and link it to Facebook. It will work much MUCH better. It also sends the link to Google+ and it's effortless because it's automatic. For that matter, YouTube will notify Twitter or other sites as well. YouTube may or may not be the best place to load your video but Facebook is unquestionably the worst, those are strictly throwaways.
Canon HF R600 at $299
Width is about 7-8 cm.
Of the three, the R600 is the best value but it's quite small and that's nice and easy but can make it awkward to use. For example, if you do a long zoom then keeping that tiny camera on the target will be difficult without a tripod. However, what's cool is that you really can do a long zoom, it's got a 57x optical (as opposed to digital) zoom and the quality is excellent. (Yes, I see it says 32x on the lens. I'll review further as the conflict is obvious but I can tell you definitely the zoom is smooth and precise out to the extent of its range. A car across the street has wire wheels. I stood on the porch and zoomed to where the wheel filled the screen and I could clearly see the spokes.)
There is no electronic 'shoe' for mounting flash or a microphone but there are after-market kits that attach to the bottom of the camera and permit mounting a flash or a mike but I don't think both. That kind of device is awkward but so what as you're carrying a camera, you've already clearly identified yourself as a geek anyway. The only thing geekier is to carry it on a selfie stick.
The 'touch' controls on this model work much better than earlier models where a 'touch' was more accurately translated to 'grind the screen until your teeth hurt.' The controls for the R600 are much more sensitive than those on the screen of the G10 and this is an excellent improvement.
Note: digital zoom is worthless and is the equivalent of an MP3 picture. Suitable only for Instagram where you can put it next to Kim Kardashian's porno movie.
Canon HF G10 at $900
Width is about 10+ cm.
Click on any of the images for a larger review to get technical specifics on the lenses.
The G10 is about three years old and is now discontinued with the current model being the G20 with better features at $900, the G10 actually cost more in its time.
Note: the dust on it shows only the darkness of the room as the camera had not been brought forward here to get enough light on it to see the dust. The camera does not look like that now.
The big muff on the top of it is a wind protector for an external, highly-directional microphone.
The progression in lens sizes in these cameras is clear but less so are the electronics as the product from each is almost identical: HD 1080p video and all of them store it on SD cards.
Note: the Sony cam uses a micro SD card and those things are ridiculously tiny at maybe a centimeter across. They are effective and not terribly hard to use but I would much rather deal with a full-size SD card because they're much more convenient.
Note: be aware of the speed of your card reader as there is no benefit if you have a USB 3.0 port on your computer but plug a USB 2.0 card reader into it, there will be no gain. However, a USB 3.0 card reader will only cost six to ten bucks for a significant reduction in video load time. It matters as the cameras capture up to and beyond thirty megabits of data per second (i.e. about 4 MB/sec).
You will pay more if you want a card reader that does more than read SD cards.
The irony is the R600 arrived just as the music collapsed so the budget is hammered and possibly for no good reason. Even if nothing else, it will get some video at the zoo because, even after all these years, it's all happening at the zoo.
The zoo is, for me, an obvious pick for a test of a camera with a strong zoom as the environment is always colorful, the animals always hide in the far corners of their enclosures, etc. The rain is supposed to stop by Wednesday so that might be the opportunity as hopefully children are still in school, even though it's Texas and public school here is useless ... but public school is useless anywhere ... except for the ones where Miss Periwinkle takes a shining to one of the boys in her class as he will be the only one to come out of that school with an education.
(Ed: you think Cat hasn't seen zoos?)
She hasn't seen this one.
(Ed: what happened to the music?)
There's nothing to say.
(Ed: what about the Texas drought?)
It's been raining for three days. You tell me.
Note: I don't want to shoot wombats. I'm not sure I've ever even seen one. If you do want to shoot one, how about taking an ocean cruise with the Dallas Safari Club ... on a ship that sinks. (That's the outfit that auctioned off shooting a rhino to Dallas richies, probably none of whom understand how much they are loathed.)
There's no substitute for good glass in a camera. Webcams, cellphones, etc have tiny little lenses and they do an adequate job of various things but real quality can only come when there's quality glass that can see it. If you're going to go out to shoot a lion with a camera, at least make sure it's got good glass in it. You'll still get eaten but the pics will be great.
Sony HDR AS-20 action cam at $150
The lens is the tiny reddish point in the center. Width is about 3 cm for the camera.
The camera is ridiculously easy to use as it only knows On, Off, Record. Don't dismiss this one too quickly, tho, as the picture quality is remarkably good. It's a fixed-focus lens but its flexibility is extraordinary, even in low-light situations.
For example, if you want to get some blowaway baby video, wear the camera on a headstrap and then do what you do normally with the kid. The video will be very close and the camera will see almost exactly what you see. Action cams aren't just for skydiving.
Yes, of course it's uncomfortable, Mom, but it couldn't be worse than carrying the little rotter around inside you for nine months and, even better, how they got the little monster out of you. I promise you'll get video of yer baby that you will treasure. wtf, borrow a cam from some skater kid as you won't need to shoot that much of it.
Just one thing: PLEASE don't put the video on Facebook. Quite apart from the sex perverts running about, Facebook butchers video by converting it to FLASH, a format only used by tabloids and porno sites. Put your video on YouTube and link it to Facebook. It will work much MUCH better. It also sends the link to Google+ and it's effortless because it's automatic. For that matter, YouTube will notify Twitter or other sites as well. YouTube may or may not be the best place to load your video but Facebook is unquestionably the worst, those are strictly throwaways.
Canon HF R600 at $299
Width is about 7-8 cm.
Of the three, the R600 is the best value but it's quite small and that's nice and easy but can make it awkward to use. For example, if you do a long zoom then keeping that tiny camera on the target will be difficult without a tripod. However, what's cool is that you really can do a long zoom, it's got a 57x optical (as opposed to digital) zoom and the quality is excellent. (Yes, I see it says 32x on the lens. I'll review further as the conflict is obvious but I can tell you definitely the zoom is smooth and precise out to the extent of its range. A car across the street has wire wheels. I stood on the porch and zoomed to where the wheel filled the screen and I could clearly see the spokes.)
There is no electronic 'shoe' for mounting flash or a microphone but there are after-market kits that attach to the bottom of the camera and permit mounting a flash or a mike but I don't think both. That kind of device is awkward but so what as you're carrying a camera, you've already clearly identified yourself as a geek anyway. The only thing geekier is to carry it on a selfie stick.
The 'touch' controls on this model work much better than earlier models where a 'touch' was more accurately translated to 'grind the screen until your teeth hurt.' The controls for the R600 are much more sensitive than those on the screen of the G10 and this is an excellent improvement.
Note: digital zoom is worthless and is the equivalent of an MP3 picture. Suitable only for Instagram where you can put it next to Kim Kardashian's porno movie.
Canon HF G10 at $900
Width is about 10+ cm.
Click on any of the images for a larger review to get technical specifics on the lenses.
The G10 is about three years old and is now discontinued with the current model being the G20 with better features at $900, the G10 actually cost more in its time.
Note: the dust on it shows only the darkness of the room as the camera had not been brought forward here to get enough light on it to see the dust. The camera does not look like that now.
The big muff on the top of it is a wind protector for an external, highly-directional microphone.
The progression in lens sizes in these cameras is clear but less so are the electronics as the product from each is almost identical: HD 1080p video and all of them store it on SD cards.
Note: the Sony cam uses a micro SD card and those things are ridiculously tiny at maybe a centimeter across. They are effective and not terribly hard to use but I would much rather deal with a full-size SD card because they're much more convenient.
Note: be aware of the speed of your card reader as there is no benefit if you have a USB 3.0 port on your computer but plug a USB 2.0 card reader into it, there will be no gain. However, a USB 3.0 card reader will only cost six to ten bucks for a significant reduction in video load time. It matters as the cameras capture up to and beyond thirty megabits of data per second (i.e. about 4 MB/sec).
You will pay more if you want a card reader that does more than read SD cards.
The irony is the R600 arrived just as the music collapsed so the budget is hammered and possibly for no good reason. Even if nothing else, it will get some video at the zoo because, even after all these years, it's all happening at the zoo.
The zoo is, for me, an obvious pick for a test of a camera with a strong zoom as the environment is always colorful, the animals always hide in the far corners of their enclosures, etc. The rain is supposed to stop by Wednesday so that might be the opportunity as hopefully children are still in school, even though it's Texas and public school here is useless ... but public school is useless anywhere ... except for the ones where Miss Periwinkle takes a shining to one of the boys in her class as he will be the only one to come out of that school with an education.
(Ed: you think Cat hasn't seen zoos?)
She hasn't seen this one.
(Ed: what happened to the music?)
There's nothing to say.
(Ed: what about the Texas drought?)
It's been raining for three days. You tell me.
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