Considered Getting A Better Camcorder For Shooting Professional YouTube Videos?
Technology evolves fast. If you wanted to record a video decent quality video 10 years ago, you had to buy or rent a $10.000 camcorder.
Today you can get a pretty good camcorder for less than $200. And if you are serious about your exposure on YouTube you will have to get one eventually.
I was researching for the best low – budget HD camcorder ($100 – $200) that would be most suitable for uploading videos on YouTube.
My research narrowed down to:
Specifications:
| Kodak Zi8 | Flip Ultra HD | Specifications |
|---|---|---|
| 720p (bad 1080p) | 720p | Resolution |
| 60 | 60 | FPS |
| 2 hours | 2 hours | Battery Life |
| Up to 32 GB | 8GB | Memory |
| Yes | No | External Microphone Support |
| Yes | Yes | Image Stabilization |
| Yes | Yes | Tripod Support |
| Yes | Yes | HDMI port and cable |
| Yes | Yes | Audio Playback |
| Yes | Yes | Internal Microphone |
| Low | Low | Low Light Performance |
| No | Yes | AA Batteries Support |
| Yes | No | Face Detection, Macro |
| $100 - $130 | $170.99 - $200 | Price |
Overall
Kodak Zi8
More Features, The ability to plug in external microphone is really useful if you want to record quality audio since the internal microphones usually suck.
The only Flip Style camcorder that has a macro function (that I am aware of) which is really useful if you want to do a closeup on something. If you are searching for more features and want to save some money you should go with this one.
Flip Ultra HD
Easier to use, I really like the AA batteries support. Also I think it looks better than the Zi8 and it can be fixed without a Tripod. If you want a pretty and stable camcorder that will never run out of batteries and you don’t plan to use an external microphone or shoot in macro mode, than the Flip Ultra HD is the right one for you.* Just make sure that you buy the third generation (With 8 GB memory and 2h of recording time), searching for this camcorder on eBay can be confusing.
Real Life Tests :
Recording mode : (720p – 60 fps) – optimal setting for both camcorders.
Kodak Zi8
Flip Ultra HD
Kodak Zi8
Flip Ultra HD
Kodak Zi8
Flip Ultra HD
Amazon Links (lowest prices)
I went ahead and ordered the Kodak Zi8 and my parkour team is loving it. Here is a video we took:
So if you are serious and want to get more youtube views, then you should seriously consider getting one of these cameras.
You might also be interested in : improving your voice quality on videos
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