Camera with built-in HD Video vs. HD Videocamera with excellent HD pictures

[ddwilder2]

Hi,

I need to replace both my digital camera (currently Panasonic Lumix FZ1) and my camcorder (Canon ES7000V - Hi8). I would like to go all HD at this point.

I am trying to determine if it is better to buy an HD Videocamera with excellent still images or to buy an excellent camera with excellent HD video. Or, do neither of these actually exist? Here are my requirements, based on your excellent questionnaire:

Budget - up to $1,000
Size - prefer smaller over bigger, but not tiny
Features - anything over 5 MP is superfluous
Optical zoom - Ultrazoom (10X - 12X) is necessary
Image Quality - Important (at least an 8)
Manual controls - Don't use them much, and won't
General Usage - for taking family pictures and videoing sporting events
Will you be making big prints - once in a while (5 times in 15 years)
Indoor photos - yes, but usually with decent light, but not always
Low light photos - infrequently (primarily during birthdays)
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos - Yes
Are there particular brands you like or hate? - I'm totally open
Are there particular models you already have in mind? Thinking of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 or Fuji HS10 (a bit bulky for me)
Absolutely need Image Stabilization

The key is that I want to be able to easily access the video on an SD Card (or something similar, but SD is preferable and there must be some sort of memory card). By "easily access" I mean that I can download it to a PC, edit it, burn it to a blu-ray DVD, and be able to share it easily. The AVCHD Lite does not appear to provide this (and the JPEG format with its limitations of fitting 8 minutes on a 2GB SD Card is pretty limiting). I would also like to be able to take out the SD card and simply put it into my Panasonic Viera HD TV and view the photos and videos, although that is not as important as the editting issue.

With all this, I am back to my question: is it better to buy an HD Videocamera with excellent still images or to buy an excellent camera with excellent HD video? If this forum only deals with digital cameras, then if you could please just address that part, I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance to everyone!

[jcon]

I guess it depends which of the two are more important to you? Pictures or video? My suggestion would be to get an HD camcorder and a decent digital camera, if your budget will allow. Other wise you will be making quality sacrifices.

[ddwilder2]

Jcon, thanks for your response!

I am trying to simplify my life and just get one piece of equipment that does both. Both are equally important, yet neither needs to be of the best professional quality. Simplicity of use and easy copying and sharing are the most important features I request.

[jekostas]

The Panasonic ZS3 and the newer model ZS7 seem to fit your needs, but both use the AVCHD Lite codec for recording, so you'll have to dig up some software for conversion/manipulation (or just use Windows Movie Maker).

You could also look at the Canon SX200is, which has very similar specifications but uses the slightly-easier-to-deal-with H.264 codec. You cannot use the zoom lens while recording video, however, while you can use the zoom with the Panasonic cameras.

All are relatively compact, 12x zoom cameras with Image Stabilization.

If you're willing to step up in size to a bridge camera, the Canon SX1is has a longer zoom than any of the others, HD video recording using the H.264 video codec, and you can use the zoom during video recording. It is also more expensive and quite a bit larger.

Getting dedicated separate cameras for video and still is probably your best bet still, though.

[K1W1]

To me what you are saying is that you want a sports car that is also a station wagon. There is nothing I am aware of that fits your exact requirements so imo you need to decide which compromise you will make and from your posts it seems that video is more important to you than still photos so I'd buy a video camera that does what you want and accept the fact that the stills will be fairly ordinary until you eventually buy another still camera (you will).

[darthvedor]

I suggest Sony DSC-HX1, which has got most innovative features any digital camera has at present, like sweep panorama mode, a very promising twilight feature for low light conditions, a G-series lens, Exmor™ CMOS Sensor, etc. plus it lets you use the zoom (full 20x optical) while shooting HD video. However the videos are recorded in 1440x1080 but which gets stretched to 1920x1080 while displaying and it is not at all noticeable. However being sony it records in AVCHD format. But being sony again it offers highest compression rate (by 1/3) any still camera can offer in the market. This will be worth considering since HD videos occupy quite a lot of memory. But yes a still camera is meant for photographs ans a video for motion. Call is yours. Cheers !!!