I need to updgrade my camcorder before the upcoming season and am hoping to get some advice on good replacement options.

I am not partial to any particular brand. Most important things to me are:

Quality of picture
Zoom capabilities (up to 500 yards - although most shots will be at 200 or less)
Battery life

I film almost every hunt either via a tripod or the camera mount in a tree... it started as a fun hobby but now it's addicting. It is a great tool to help with aging and identifying deer, and to help with assessing shot placements and how long I need to wait or what I need to do after the shot.

All help is greatly appreciated. I might need to cross post on the nerdery?

Budget is probably $500-600 or less

Panasonic makes a few great camcorders in your price range. The two big things to look for when shopping for a consumer grade camcorder are sensor size and the "optical" zoom of the lens. Any zoom outside of the optical zoom is done in software and is cropping the picture not zooming it. The larger the sensor size, the more light it can let in, and the better picture you have, especially at lower lighting conditions.

Panasonic HC-V770K

Panasonic HC-VX981K (aprox $650)

Panasonic HC-V800

At the consumer level most manufacturers produce units that revolve around the guts of only 1 or 2 models. They will have the exact same sensor and lens - some will have a built in hard drive or a model with a large built in hard drive, wifi features, and more bells & whistles. But the pictures will be the same.

Info + some things I would look for:

- at the consumer level, sensor sizes are normally given in fractions which can be misleading. You see a larger number thinking it better, but it's really the denominator and just the opposite. A sensor size of 1/2.3" = 0.434 inches in physical size. And a sensor size of 1/4.85" = 0.206 inches.

- 4k video could be more trouble than it's worth, especially if you are making very long videos or editing large videos. -- It will require a lot more storage and and is a lot slower to edit/render the final product. -- 1080p is great

- Try to save everything to an SD card vs a built in hard drive. It is much faster to swap cards and insert one into a card reader on a computer versus connecting a USB cable to the camera

Thank you! Good to know about 4K because I was debating if it was worth the jump in price. I edit a ton of the videos into shorter clips, mostly around kill shots, so I will not be taking that route.

Just because a camera can record in 4K doesn't mean it doesn't also have the capability to record in 1080p. The comments about editing and rendering 4K are true, but there are definitely times it's worth it

I currently don't own a TV or computer with 4K capability. Now that might change soon but I am trying to figure out if spending an extra couple of hundred bucks on a camera that will spend 98% of it's life outdoors on hunts with me, is worth it.

I'm just starting to dabble in this stuff too. What's a good video editing software?

BurrOak said:

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I'm just starting to dabble in this stuff too. What's a good video editing software?

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I use iMovie for most of my stuff. If you're just trimming videos, adding/editing sound, or even adding split screen, it works great!

I used Windows moviemaker for a while but got sick of the conversion process when I wanted to add to my phone or iPad.

In response to what is a good video editing software --- It depends.

From what I have seen -- Apple & Mac users tend to prefer iMovie and Final Cut Pro, while PC users lean towards Adobe products. People who do a lot of color effects seem to lean towards DaVinci Resolve.

If you want a serious pro level editor, Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut Pro are the cream of the crop. I will throw in DaVinci Resolve it you want to go more color effects heavy.

Some good basic to mid-level editors are: iMovie, Magix Movie Edit Pro, CyberLink Power Director, Adobe Premier Elements

Choosing software can get a bit confusing when you are just starting out. Know what files types and codecs your camera is recording to and what file type and codec you want as the edited final version. Google the pros/cons of each.

I hate editing because it take so much time. I have a switcher and try to produce everything live so I do not have to edit. Even if I am recording it for archival or later use. At work we use Adobe Premier Pro.