Budget Video Camera for 13-year-old son (and wife's vacation)?

[Mark Romero 2]

So looking for a budget camera (less than $450 used) for my 13-year-old son, and for my wife to use in their upcoming trip to Morocco in early April.

Primarily, looking for something cheap(ish) in case they lose it / break it, and should be easy to use, good stabilization, decent (or at least acceptable) autofocus, and has a mic input port. (I will probably have them put a Rode Video Micro in the hot shoe since it doesn't require a battery).

It should have pretty good 1080p and also preferably 4K. I think they will MOSTLY shoot 1080p, but occasionally 4K.

Oh, and would prefer for it to NOT spontaneously combust in the Moroccan Spring heat, so [insert obligatory Sony joke here.]

So far, I am thinking the Panasonic FZ1000 as the leader with the FZ300 as a runner up.

Bigger sensor of the FZ1000 vs the FZ300's weather sealing and touch screen.

Since the FZ300 is a year newer than the FZ1000, does it have improved AF and improved stabilization over the FZ1000?

Should I be looking at something else besides these cameras?

Or... should I just convince my wife to use her Galaxy S7?

[Kisaha]

Don't you have an a6xx camera? These are the 450$ cameras of today.

[thephoenix]

Olympus has good deals and good cameras

[Mark Romero 2]

16 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

Don't you have an a6xx camera? These are the 450$ cameras of today.

Yes, I have an a6000 and an a6500.

Unfortunately, they are not really user friendly, and the stabilization is not so good.

They also tend to overheat a bit.

5 minutes ago, thephoenix said:

Olympus has good deals and good cameras

Thanks. Can you suggest a particular model?

[darrellcraig]

1 hour ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

Or... should I just convince my wife to use her Galaxy S7?

You probably won't have to convince her... don't be surprised if they come back with mostly S7 pics & vids regardless of what camera you send.

Might consider spending the $ to upgrade the phone vs. getting a camera.

[hijodeibn]

11 minutes ago, darrellcraig said:

You probably won't have to convince her... don't be surprised if they come back with mostly S7 pics & vids regardless of what camera you send.

Might consider spending the $ to upgrade the phone vs. getting a camera.

I agree, she probably get used to just use her phone, specially since it is not going to take any more room from her handbag...

[thephoenix]

1 hour ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

Yes, I have an a6000 and an a6500.

Unfortunately, they are not really user friendly, and the stabilization is not so good.

They also tend to overheat a bit.

Thanks. Can you suggest a particular model?

https://www.eoshd.com/2018/10/the-absolutely-mega-olympus-e-m10-iii-oversampled-4-6k-no-crop-5-axis-ibis-for-500/

[BTM_Pix]

For all of the specs that you are after @Mark Romero 2 at that price point, its difficult to look beyond the FZ1000.

If you can up the budget and hunt around for a deal then a used FZ2000/2500 might be a good route because of the internal ND.

If you don't mind losing the mic input then Panasonic do compact form factor versions of their 1" cameras (TS100/TZ100) which might be more appropriate for travel (the FZ hybrids are pretty bulky) that also have the touch screen option. They can also be persuaded to shoot in Cinelike D if you know the right people  

The Olympus is a good option if you can budget for the lens but again you will lose the mic input.

An alternative to the Olympus if you were OK with going with an interchangeable lens system would be a used G80/85 that you could get for just above the budget and would get the mic input, IBIS and also an articulating screen which might be important if your son wants to do vlogging/selfie stuff.

A completely left field suggestion would be the Insta360 OneX as it really is a great travel video camera option in my opinion if, as has been suggested, the bulk the stills shooting will end up being done with a cellphone. With a bit of shopping around you get one of those and a used Panasonic LX100 which would be a great combo if more serious shooting is also required. 

[Kisaha]

3 hours ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

Yes, I have an a6000 and an a6500.

Unfortunately, they are not really user friendly, and the stabilization is not so good.

They also tend to overheat a bit.

how a camera you use professionaly isn't adequate for holiday photos and videos?!

Do not waste any more money. The a6000 is good if they want 1080p (and they should) and the other if they shoot 4K.

Use the PZ or the 18-105. They certainly are small cameras - which is good for travel, and they will shoot short videos, do not see overheating being an issue for not critical work.

As you put it, these cameras do not even worth 450$! And they probably do not. The a6300 is 670€ new here.

[kye]

3 hours ago, hijodeibn said:

I agree, she probably get used to just use her phone, specially since it is not going to take any more room from her handbag...

Non-techie types do like using their phones, but "there is no zoom" is also something non-techie types who have a bit of interest in photography understand and care about.

Don't confuse people not knowing about cameras or tech with people not knowing about what makes a good image or what they like.  We are drowning in photos and video and therefore live in the most visually literate time in all of human history.

4 hours ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

Bigger sensor of the FZ1000 vs the FZ300's weather sealing and touch screen.

When in doubt, go for usability and durability, then just tell them to shoot everything and not worry about the camera.

[mercer]

I actually liked the FZ300 a lot when I owned it. The added bonus of the constant aperture zoom and CineLike profiles were a bonus.

[hijodeibn]

1 hour ago, kye said:

Non-techie types do like using their phones, but "there is no zoom" is also something non-techie types who have a bit of interest in photography understand and care about.

Don't confuse people not knowing about cameras or tech with people not knowing about what makes a good image or what they like.  We are drowning in photos and video and therefore live in the most visually literate time in all of human history.

When in doubt, go for usability and durability, then just tell them to shoot everything and not worry about the camera.

Anyway....whatever you said.....she is going to use the NEW camera the first three days.....then just use her phone...which is always in her pocket.....camera are too bulky for vacations....

[Mark Romero 2]

Ok, firstly, thanks all to everyone who has chipped in.

I guess I should have clarified something about this.

My wife does travel a lot for business and in the past she used a Sony a5100 with the 16-50 kit lens Instead of her cell phone).

I think the MAIN reason that she used the a5100 instead of the S7 she owns was... she believes that she needs a "real" camera to achieve her artistic vision.

Seriously: I try to show her videos on youtube of cinematic footage taken with a smartphone and she ain't having it.

Now, if you know me well (and, thank your lucky stars that you DON'T know me well), you would know that I HATE spending money on things that I don't need / won't get used.

So believe me that I have Anti-GAS; I mean, I have been asking people about an upgrade from my a6500 on this forum for two years now, and I STILL use my a6500 and haven't replaced it with anything. No a7 III, no Z6, no X-T3, no GH5, no EOS R / RP.

So, anyway, I would just have her use the a5100 (since it is just lying here collecting dust, and since she used it a lot for photos in the past), but for video those things overheat in the mild San Francisco weather in about 12 minutes. I am sure they wouldn't last half that in Morocco.

Now, I could get her an a6000 as @Kisaha suggested, but I am pretty sure she will appreciate the flip out screen and the IBIS a lot more than the aps-c sensor of the a6000.

I think a mic input would be pretty important, too. a600 doesn't have one, but it could work with a proprietary Sony mic that uses the hotshoe to transmit the audio from the mic to the camera.

 

[webrunner5]

 

Use her phone and be done when it! This is 2019.

[Mark Romero 2]

Just now, webrunner5 said:

U

se her phone and be done when it! This is 2019.

That would be a great solution for a reasonable person.

But it is my wife we are talking about here...

[Snowfun]

Insta360 One X if the idea is to make fun and very entertaining holiday films. Put the app on an iPad, load the footage and play with the 360 look around. Immersive, interactive and a great deal of fun to be had.

And use the app on the Mac (and presumably PC) to edit into a “film”. It’s the future!

Plus her phone.

 

[kye]

11 minutes ago, Snowfun said:

Insta360 One X if the idea is to make fun and very entertaining holiday films. Put the app on an iPad, load the footage and play with the 360 look around. Immersive, interactive and a great deal of fun to be had.

And use the app on the Mac (and presumably PC) to edit into a “film”. It’s the future!

Plus her phone.

 

360 video is shoot-now-frame-later but is low quality, so it depends on your style.  I'm interested in shoot-now-frame-later but the quality isn't there.. yet.

It's about film-making style.

[elgabogomez]

The latest GoPro, sure you can find ways to use it after the trip. If stills are a concern let your kid do the video work and convince the wife to still use the a5100.

[mercer]

How about an RX10? Great 1080p. Mic input. Headphone output. Constant 2.8 aperture. Built in ND filter. 

You may be able to find the Mark II for under $500 if you look hard enough and that will give you 4K and good 1080 up to 120p. 

[IronFilm]

You might get lucky finding an Olympus E-M10 III or Panasonic G85 secondhand for near ish to your budget?

Otherwise go for the older Olympus E-M10 II which can be found even cheaper.

11 hours ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

So, anyway, I would just have her use the a5100 (since it is just lying here collecting dust, and since she used it a lot for photos in the past), but for video those things overheat in the mild San Francisco weather in about 12 minutes. I am sure they wouldn't last half that in Morocco.

I remember filming with my a5100 years ago and it would overheat after every take! So very frustrating