Can anyone recommend a video camera

Hey gang, I've gotten into using a fan page on facebook. Finally I don't feel like Facebook is a time waster since i'm using it for good use. I've been posting tracks through soundcloud and i'm looking to start promoting with video (during performances, shooting the crowd.) I was wondering if anyone can recommend a great video camera that would work well in dark settings. I suppose iMovie could help with editing and brightening the video.

there was a thread a couple of weeks back discussing video cameras....

without getting accessory lights its hard to get a decent (usable) result without spending a heap on a pro camera. if you use editing software to try and brighten video you end up with a really noisy (grainy) picture.

check out this video we did for a buddy's club night last year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F3KxfNZFvY

we used sony fx1 cameras for this and lowered the shutter speed to allow more light to be captured by the sensor. the beauty of the sony fx1 is the size of the lens, bigger lens = more light!


EDIT: p.s i forgot to add, that was filmed without using any additional lighting other than the clubs lights

That's pretty decent, even with an accessory light how good would the results be. I suspect you know a thing or 2 about camera if your using an FX1.

yeah me and a buddy have a film company check out our vids in my sig at the bottom..

those LED panel lights you can get do a fairly decent job. i've never actually used one myself, but have seen a few club related videos and event videos where they have been used. only problem is the footage will be really bright in the middle of the picture and dark on the around the edges. having never used them i cant recommend any particular one, but you can get some pretty cheap on ebay if you wanted to play around with one? some of the 'brand name' ones i've seen can be upto several hundred$$

what sort of budget were you looking at for your camera purchase?

Cheap haha, I wasn't looking to go all out or anything. Is there anything you could recommend currently in the consumer range. I was looking into either Flash or Hard Drive based but the price jumps with hard drives. Also would you recommend HD or no?

Seriously I was amazed by my buddies Flip HD camera. It's nothing fancy, but as long as you have some sort of light source, the thing is amazing. It really suprised me too because the audio quality was spot on as well, and I really wasn't expecting that.

I think they are around $200 at the moment, and I highly suggest taking some time to research them.

We brought 2 with us into Ultra Music Festival this year. Small, light, excellent picture and sound. Only thing I can say is that if you are in a dark area, have some sort of light.

But seriously, check em out. Flip UltraHD or Flip MinoHD

http://www.theflip.com

http://www.allreviews.com/camcorders...minicam-hr.jpg

[youtube]-X4i6XN2xVM[/youtube]

what kind of lens do you guys recommend for those cool close ups?

Also what could you recommend if your shooting in a club setting, what can you change to your advantage as far as settings go.

the lens we used for the cool closeups is worth about 1/3 of the camera :-) its a century optics .03x ultra fisheye... lenses are something that is definitely you get what you pay for, but if you aren't too concerned on image sharpness and stuff an ebay fisheye of a similar magnification rating will do the trick fine.

something consumer grade huh? :-) if you're gonna go consumer grade take a look into the canon range of cameras. their image quality is great for the price. and personally i wouldnt go for anything but HD. i'd say flash based over harddrive based - you dont want a camera writing its info to platters with a moving head, especially in a club where you're likely to get bumped (you'll end up with pixelated garbage you wont be able to use) and no moving parts = better battery life! what ever you get make sure the camera has manual control over shutter speed and aperture..... the lower the shutter speed, and the lower (=wider) aperture means more light will get onto the sensor which in return gives you a clearer, brighter picture.