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

[Snowfun]

8 hours ago, kye said:

 I'm interested in shoot-now-frame-later but the quality isn't there.. yet.

Agreed... for some purposes. But if the intention is to view on a phone or iPad type device in a casual and fun environment then, yes, the quality is absolutely there. 

I had mine on the snow earlier this year - initially I thought it was dreadful and was going to bin it. But my wife thought it was fabulous and watched the fun rather than the banding, dubious stitching (at times) and any number of other limitations (features?). 

The ability to let your audience reframe is astounding and produces a genuine immersive experience. 

I think it’s used by Sky Brown (who must be the coolest person in the world) in her BBC sport video.

[BTM_Pix]

11 minutes ago, Snowfun said:

Agreed... for some purposes. But if the intention is to view on a phone or iPad type device in a casual and fun environment then, yes, the quality is absolutely there. 

I had mine on the snow earlier this year - initially I thought it was dreadful and was going to bin it. But my wife thought it was fabulous and watched the fun rather than the banding, dubious stitching (at times) and any number of other limitations (features?). 

The ability to let your audience reframe is astounding and produces a genuine immersive experience. 

I think it’s used by Sky Brown (who must be the coolest person in the world) in her BBC sport video.

I think its great for making little 30 second pieces from using the re-frame function in the app. To be able to make something interesting with multiple angles from basically just being stood there holding it makes it a great holiday/event camera as far as I'm concerned.

 

[LippyLee]

How about the RX100 M1 or the G7X M1?

Either can be gotten below $200 used. Both have usable autofocus and usable 30/60fps 1080p

The G7X has a 3 stop ND filter and a touchscreen and it will achieve the same level of background blurriness as an APS-C kit lens while having 100mm FF equivalent focal length.

They are both pocketable and cheap enough to not worry about losing them/theft

Both don't have mic ports though

[Kisaha]

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

I think its great for making little 30 second pieces from using the re-frame function in the app. To be able to make something interesting with multiple angles from basically just being stood there holding it makes it a great holiday/event camera as far as I'm concerned.

 

I played a bit with my Insta this past long weekend and it was great fun.

Everyone loved it and were truly impressed, a lot more than my Mavic 2 Pro or the huge bag of 4 mirrorless and 5 lenses!

I downloaded some GoPro VR plug ins from Kolor Pano website for Adobe Premiere and made the whole editing process a breeze.

Maybe the Pocket 4K is the last traditional camera I am buying.

Imagine in 2022 a 360 8K camera with m43 dual pixel sensors..

I am truly and genuinely impressed by Insta. You shot something on the beach, and while having a coctail or beer, you export your 360 video or edit a "normal" version.

[BTM_Pix]

3 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I played a bit with my Insta this past long weekend and it was great fun.

Everyone loved it and were truly impressed, a lot more than my Mavic 2 Pro or the huge bag of 4 mirrorless and 5 lenses!

I downloaded some GoPro VR plug ins from Kolor Pano website for Adobe Premiere and made the whole editing process a breeze.

Maybe the Pocket 4K is the last traditional camera I am buying.

Imagine in 2022 a 360 8K camera with m43 dual pixel sensors..

I am truly and genuinely impressed by Insta. You shot something on the beach, and while having a coctail or beer, you export your 360 video or edit a "normal" version.

Its quite something isn't it?

The stabilisation aspect when you are making flat versions is really impressive.

Did you get the long selfie stick with it? I was able to do some faux drone shots using that at the weekend on the Bollocks To Brexit march.

[Kisaha]

48 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Its quite something isn't it?

The stabilisation aspect when you are making flat versions is really impressive.

Did you get the long selfie stick with it? I was able to do some faux drone shots using that at the weekend on the Bollocks To Brexit march.

I got the bike bundle, only available bundle in the country, seems like they sell really well. Which selfie stick is this?

https://www.amazon.com/Insta360-One-Bike-Bundle/dp/B07CZH7M62?th=1&psc=1

Some friends (amateur photographers with dozens of thousands of euros of equipment and older 360 cameras themseves) though that I had a mini selfie drone, when I sent them my first experiments!

I want to get the protective water resistant case and the Mavic mount next!

Everything is brilliant about it. Software mostly. 

[BTM_Pix]

45 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I got the bike bundle, only available bundle in the country, seems like they sell really well. Which selfie stick is this?

https://www.amazon.com/Insta360-One-Bike-Bundle/dp/B07CZH7M62?th=1&psc=1

Some friends (amateur photographers with dozens of thousands of euros of equipment and older 360 cameras themseves) though that I had a mini selfie drone, when I sent them my first experiments!

I want to get the protective water resistant case and the Mavic mount next!

Everything is brilliant about it. Software mostly. 

The bundle that I got had the bullet time handle and stick in it like this one

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JVLLLWQ

[Kisaha]

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

The bundle that I got had the bullet time handle and stick in it like this one

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JVLLLWQ

So many bundles, so many accessories!

I have to make a list. Another "to buy" list..

The stick seems the same as in the bike bundle though.

 

[kye]

9 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

I think its great for making little 30 second pieces from using the re-frame function in the app. To be able to make something interesting with multiple angles from basically just being stood there holding it makes it a great holiday/event camera as far as I'm concerned.

Absolutely agree.

The one thing I've learned from shooting family videos is that the moments you're after happen without warning and tend to be interactions between the kids and the outside world.  This means that you need to always be rolling, and need to be filming everything so you can get the action/reaction shot sequences.

From that point of view......

4 hours ago, Kisaha said:

Imagine in 2022 a 360 8K camera with m43 dual pixel sensors..

TAKE MY MONEY!!!!

[newfoundmass]

If you're looking at Panasonic then the FZ1000, the G85 and the G7 all are decent options. The G85 has IBIS which is an added bonus and probably has the best AF out of any of them. 

Not to be a jerk to fellow posters, but "just have her use her phone" isn't really helping the OP. Given he's asking for suggestions on cameras I'd assume he'd already ruled using a phone out for whatever reason. And FWIW, even though I have a capable cell phone that shoots decent video, I always use a camera whenever I can because I know it will always get better images. Just my 2 cents. 

[Snowbro]

c100

[Trek of Joy]

On 3/27/2019 at 3:44 PM, Mark Romero 2 said:

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?

Osmo Pocket would be perfect for this.

[Mark Romero 2]

5 minutes ago, Trek of Joy said:

Osmo Pocket would be perfect for this.

How would I mount a mic on it???

[Adam Kuźniar]

29 minutes ago, Trek of Joy said:

Osmo Pocket would be perfect for this.

It's kinda limiting tho 

[newfoundmass]

5 hours ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

How would I mount a mic on it???

I think the Osmo Pocket actually has decent sound, from what I've seen of it. It's actually pretty cool, because I believe it has two mics on it, the primary one and then one on the bottom that is used strictly for helping to remove background noise. 

However I think it'd be a nightmare in Morocco unless you get the compatible ND filters. I'm not sure how comfortable the Mrs. is with that stuff. 

A good review that touches on the audio and the need for ND: