If money was no object. What Hybrid stills/video cam would y

[si133]

Hi,



I'm new to the forum and I have been learning about hybrid cameras before I buy one.

I will use it about 50/50 video to stills.

My question is this. If money was no object, is there a market leader? The Sanyo C6 looks good, but is it much better than the Digilifes which seem half the price?

Have I over looked some brands?

Are there any stills cameras who's video capability equal the hybrids?

Please help! :?

[action*jackson]

Hi, I am also new to the forum and have been driving myself crazy researching the different hybrids for my needs. Iwould like a hybrid that will be good to take with mesnowboarding, rock climbing, sailing, sky diving, and wake boarding. I have been looking at the (mustek dv3 adventure,5300, 5500, 9300) (digilife s670)(Aiptek is-dv dv, dv4500, mpvr)Like I said I am having trouble narrowing it down. Ihave never owned a digital cameraso I am still a little behind on the lingo. Price range around$150.00.Any tips or suggestions?

:angry:

[Caelum]

A majordifference between an Aiptek, Digilife, Hanshing, etc. and the Sanyo C6 beyond basic build qualityis that the C6 has proper lenses that can focus on your subject and zoom optically. The cheap hybrids can't because theyuse cheaper'fixed focus' lenses. The C6 has more advanced technology likeit's'9 mixed pixels' feature during filming which provides better, smoother,video quality and substantially better low light video. You might be perfectly happy with the cheap hybrids, but there are reasons why they aremuch less expensive.

action*jackson, you might want to inquire in the Hybrid forum which is best.

[alkemyst]

Hybrids are still to me a bad choice for most.

You can get nice VidCams pretty cheaply now. Also most of the $300+ cameras can do decent video by themselves (nothing production grade).

However one has to think of what kind of stills they are looking to capture, this gets lost in the Hybrid discussions a lot...also number one "HOW DO YOU PLAN ON CARRYING THE CAMERA". I like my A series size, add in my wife's SD series and we always have a camera with us. When I had my Canon A-1 (non-digital) I didn't, my brother with his digital EOS setup didn't either and downgraded (he doesn't feel he lost much) to a G5.

Next is budget....once that is decided then a good recommendation can be made. Also what do you already have? Cases, tripods, memory cards/tapes, batteries/spares, etc can really add up to a first time purchaser, but if you already have all or most of the stuff it's easier.

There is a Hybrid forum here though, so reading that would probably enlighten you on the pro/con's.

A video camera is next on my photography list.

Å

[rjseeney]

If money were no object, I wouldn't even consider a hybrid. A hybrid will not be able to match the quality of even the low end digicams (around $150) or video cams (around $300). Although they are convenient, unless you fork over a ton of money for a high end hybrid your results will not be very good. One could get a compact digicam and decent compact video cam for around $500 combined that would both fit in a small shoulder bag and be very portable, with great results.

[Caelum]

alkemyst wrote:

Hybrids are still to me a bad choice for most.

You can get nice VidCams pretty cheaply now. Also most of the $300+ cameras can do decent video by themselves (nothing production grade).[...]

Sure, if you want to take pictures get a real camera, if you want to take videos get a real camcorder, that's obvious.

The whole point of getting a hybrid, like the ultra-compact Sanyo C6, is that you can have a good enough videocamera and digicam, literally in your pocket, on you at all times to capture those moments you least expect. Do you carry your camera and camcorder with you everywhere, all the time? I think not.

[alkemyst]

Caelum wrote:

alkemyst wrote:

Sure, if you want to take pictures get a real camera, if you want to take videos get a real camcorder, that's obvious.

The whole point of getting a hybrid, like the ultra-compact Sanyo C6, is that you can have a good enough videocamera and digicam, literally in your pocket, on you at all times to capture those moments you least expect. Do you carry your camera and camcorder with you everywhere, all the time? I think not.

Right, but that is what I also said that you didn't quote. Also I personally don't carry my camera everywhere, I do have a Nokia 6230 that can capture pics/video/audio in a bind. Today's $300+ cams take outstanding pics and decent video. Most of the time most of us are ok with decent video. If you are in to all video, most vidcams can take a decent still.

Most people are not carrying video cams regularly in the aspect of prime video quality.

Regular video demands a lot of memory which on hybrids is card based I believe for all real contenders. I don't see it happening economically now.

[si133]

Thanks for the tips guys.

I am think about a hybrid, simply from a portability point of view.

I currently have a 5 year old fuji fine pic 3.2mp and the photos still look great in good light.

I also have a Canon 750i video camera, which quality wise, suits my needs (filming the family etc).

However, I don't take them out too much, particularly on trips or parties for two reasons. Firstly, the Fuji does not seem great at focusing in bad light. Secondly, the Canon is bulky by todays standards.

I'm happy to lower the video quality a little, for the sake of portability, but I don't want to go any lower on the stills images.

I'm hoping something like the Sanyo C6 might do the trick. Or might I be better getting a full blown video camera with better stills capability?