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Camcorder for long range shooting?


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I know very little about camcorders/camera's in general...so would really appreciate some advice on what is suitable minimum spec. for filming long range shooting out to a mile+. I'm not looking to spend a huge amount, so really need to keep it sub £250 ish. All I know is that my eight year old 20x optical zoom Sony (complete with firewire...) is simply no good!

 

I'm assuming Full HD and a high optical zoom is a good starting point, so would this work ok with 50x optical zoom?:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras/digital-camcorders/digital-camcorders/panasonic-v510eb-k-full-hd-camcorder-black-21289362-pdt.html

 

Although for £40 more this also looks good, if this 'Intelligent Zoom' actually works?:

"Powerful zoom

The HC-V130 enables ultra-telephoto 38x optical zoom shooting with a compact body. This can be boosted all the way to 75x with digitally aided Intelligent Zoom where the original image quality captured by the lens remains intact, all the way from wide-angle to powerful zoom."

 

The more I read into it the more it confuses me, with sensor specs and other pixel data etc etc.

 

So a little help would be great.

 

Thanks,

 

Tiff

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Just by pure coincidence I was having a clear out and was going to put this on the flabby.

However it may be something of use to you? For a reasonable price.

Comes with case, charger, 2 batteries and is in perfect little used condition.

 

IMG_0971.jpg

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Hi Brummy Mark, I've just googled the spec and it's listed as only having 10x optical zoom - so unless I'm missing something (which I probably am...), I don't think it would be of much use to me.

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what do you want to see, bullet strike at 1 mile?

 

Yep. Ideally I'm looking for something with the zoom abilities of the main camera used in this thread:

http://ukvarminting.com/forums/topic/23613-338-long-range-23km-2500yds/

 

I have no idea on cameras, so I've googled a bit on long range shooting camera specs but have drawn a blank - hence the thread.

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It was me who posted the original thread the guy who made the video is on youtube called gy6vids he films youtube videos and makes revenue from it he might have some info on his channel about the camera he uses

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G'day Tiff

We use 300mm & 600mm lens in our cameras, but they are for wildlife & sport broadcast cameras.

We did use a Panasonic SDR-H80 at the Le Mans 24 hour race the last few years, very good.

But on the end of the zoom the slightest shake and the image falls apart.

For shooting I would do what we do for boats and cars in rough conditions, we strap the camera to a small bean bag, slightly bigger than a rear rest bag.

You can then plonk it down on the ground or on a rucksack and it is stable and does not get buffeted by the wind...especially "Bodmin" wind!!

 

Mark

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I use a jvc everio, 40x zoom hdm very impressed with the quality from such a small camcorder. Just spotted some on bay for just over 100.

I have footage of up to 375yards on magpies on u tube, pity the crow at 466 was camera shy the other day.

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  • 1 month later...

Time for an update :)

 

After trying out many models, I settled on the Panasonic HC-V550 with 50/62x optical and 90x 'Intelligent zoom'. While a bit above my original budget at £319 (£50 rebate on offer until the end off July), I decided the high zoom and very good image stabilisation that can quickly recover from the muzzle blast was worth the extra. Plus at £30 for three years accidental damage cover from John Lewis, it should be a safe investment.

 

I'm strugglingly to get Photobucket to work at full HD, so have used You Tube for these two short videos - hopefully it will work...Remember to select 'HD' from the YouTube screen menu (took me ages to work out why the quality was so bad to start with....)

 

The first video is a 6am crow at 1,248 yards - It was the only shot of the morning, so I was still reasonably happy missing by a 1/4 moa windage error...

 

This second video was taken circa. 21:45 at a rock just over 3/4 mile away (1,333 yards). This was my first shot after relocating 1/2 a mile further back - for reference the yellow square is 15" across.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1tgprA7cZA

 

Hope this is of some help to people looking at investing in a camcorder,

 

Cheers,

Tiff

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Time for an update :)

 

After trying out many models, I settled on the Panasonic HC-V550 with 50/62x optical and 90x 'Intelligent zoom'. While a bit above my original budget at £319 (£50 rebate on offer until the end off July), I decided the high zoom and very good image stabilisation that can quickly recover from the muzzle blast was worth the extra. Plus at £30 for three years accidental damage cover from John Lewis, it should be a safe investment.

 

I'm strugglingly to get Photobucket to work at full HD, so have used You Tube for these two short videos - hopefully it will work...Remember to select 'HD' from the YouTube screen menu (took me ages to work out why the quality was so bad to start with....)

 

The first video is a 6am crow at 1,248 yards - It was the only shot of the morning, so I was still reasonably happy missing by a 1/4 moa windage error...

 

This second video was taken circa. 21:45 at a rock just over 3/4 mile away (1,333 yards). This was my first shot after relocating 1/2 a mile further back - for reference the yellow square is 15" across.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1tgprA7cZA

 

Hope this is of some help to people looking at investing in a camcorder,

 

Cheers,

Tiff

What calibre is that tiff
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don,t know if you remember Sirslotsalot who used to do a lot of youtube stuff and very good they where recommended to me a Panasonic SDR-T55 which as a 78x zoom very good camera you should be ok with what you got Tiff I would think that is the new version of the SDR-T55 and they are very good

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I'm also looking for a camera and this looks like a good choice. All the Panasonic gear I've had in the past has been good value. How did you have the camera set up for the shot? Tripod, gun mounted, etc?

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I'm also looking for a camera and this looks like a good choice. All the Panasonic gear I've had in the past has been good value. How did you have the camera set up for the shot? Tripod, gun mounted, etc?

It really needs to be on a tripod, and on a good base not affected by the vibration or blast from the shot, being such a high mag you will likely end up getting some footage of some bird flying over head or a macro shot of the turf under the muzzle.

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