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Best HD Video Camera 2016
Recently the price of the best HD video cameras have fallen dramatically. That makes this a very good time to buy a HD video camera.
In best HD video camera 2016 we review 4 video cameras; One top of the line Canon video camera, one compact HD flip camera and 2 middle of the road video cameras. Hopefully one of these camcorders will be the one for you.
What to look for in a good HD video camera:
- High resolution: Resolution is measured in megapixels and the higher the number the better.
- Low light performance: Video camera users tend to do a lot of shooting indoors and if the camera can't handle low light then the video quality won't be good.
- Image stabilizer: Video shot without a decent stabilizer tends to be very shaky. A good stabilizer can make a big difference.
- Battery life: With some models the battery life can be a real problem. Be sure to check that the camera you are buying doesn't have this problem.
Canon VIXIA HF S21
The HF-S series is Canon's flagship video camera line and it is chock full of Canon's top-notch hi tech components. It features a 8.6 megapixel still-image sensor, native AVCHD recording, a 3.5 inch hi-resolution LCD touchscreen and a number of other advanced features. For example Smart Auto, Relay Recording, HD-to-SD downconversion, Powered IS and Advanced Video Snapshot. The video camera also has 64GB of internal flash memory.
The only feature of the VIXIA HF that isn't that great is it's x10 zoom. There are video cameras in the same price range with better zoom capabilities.
Still with all those features the Canon Vixia HF is our pick as best HD video camera of 2016.
Sony HDR-CX130 High Definition Handycam
The HDR CX 130 is a 2 megapixel camera, but it's able to take 3 megapixel still photos. Considering the price this video camera is loaded with some great features.
It has a professional quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with SteadyShot image stabilization, the maximum zoom is 25x (much better than the Canon), it has a face detection feature with face touch and smile shutter support.
The camera turns on automatically when you open the LCD screen, which is great if you want to immediately record something that's happening in front of you.
The Sony HDR CX 130 is particularly good at low light level shooting with it's Back-illuminated EXMOR R low-light sensor. Which is a new piece of technology from Sony.
This really is a great mid range HD video camera.
Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 2 hours
The Flip is a 0.720 megapixel video camera which records at 60 fps. This isn't great compared to the other cameras here, but it is very impressive for a compact video camera. The video is compressed as an mpeg4 and with 8 GB of memory the unit can record 2 hours of video. If you are shooting quite a bit, just take your laptop with you and upload the video through the camera's USB port.
This video camera comes with a rechargeable battery pack. You recharge it by simply connecting the camcorder to the USB port on your PC. Alternatively you can put in some normal 3 lithium AAA batteries, if you don't have time to charge the battery pack.
Samsung HMX-H100 HD Flash Memory Camcorder
The HMX-H106 is Samsung’s new flagship full-HD digital video camera features an internal 64GB SSD. The camcorder has a 2.2 megapixel CMOS.
The HMX-H106's strong points are it's attractive design, the comfortable rotating grip and the manual shutter speed.
The camcorder's weak point is that it only has x10 zoom. Also the low light recording and battery time is merely OK.
The camcorder looks and feels quite solid despite having mostly plastic parts.
The grip on the HMX-H100 rotates 150 degrees, and though you can leave it at any point in the rotation, it locks into only two positions. The first position puts the grip at 5 degrees, which makes it more comfortable for users with large hands. The 150 degree position is useful for shooting at low angles. This is quite a clever design which none of the other camcorder makers have used yet.
The HMX-H100 records 1,920x1,080/60i, as well as 720p and 480p, video using MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoding, which is similar to that used by AVCHD.
Of Samsung's has a range of video cameras HMX-H106, the H105, the H104, and the H100. In my opinion the HMX-H106 is definitely the best of the bunch.
There are many different types of video cameras out there with different features. Hopefully this article has given you a better idea of what to look for.
If you enjoyed best HD video camera 2016 you should also read best digital camera under 400 dollars.