Recommend A Camera

[Gary Gibson]

What are some of the best values for cameras fit for recording training and uploading to Youtube? I have been relying on my smartphone camera for months and it's not the best, but I have zero idea as to what are good deals in the camcorder world.

Ideally I'd want something that I could set up to record for 30-60 minutes straight and then edit the footage into a 2-10 minute video before uploading.

And sorry if this has already been covered. If it has, please let me know which thread. Thanks!

[subwindow]

It depends on how much you're willing to spend. I have a Canon t4i and I would definitely recommend it, but I have no idea if you're looking to spend $650 or not. For less than that (~150-200), I've heard good things about Flip cameras, but it looks like the latest generation isn't getting great reviews.

[Corrie]

The older flip cameras are good. I don't have experience with the new ones so subwindow could be right.
The flip cameras can plug right into USB and it makes it pretty easy to upload. Get one that doesn't do any fancy HD or 60fps and you can probably record for 60 minutes straight with a memory card that isn't too big.

I use a Kodak Zi8 nowadays. I got it a few years back because it does HD and 720p @ 60fps. It was a little expensive at the time but it's a good camera and you might want to look into the Kodak line. Mine has a USB output right on it like the flip cameras which is nice.

The last one would be Gopro. They are best for attaching to helmets or roll bars on cars and getting footage of extreme stuff. Again, the price might be a little high if all you want is basic functions.

[Red Finn]

I don't know if lifter types care about high framerates, but there's a Casio for $200 that goes from 640x480 to 1080p and up to 500 frames per second, though of course the resolution drops as you push the framerate. It also has a burst mode so you can record 30 or 60 fps and push it up to 250 or so by pressing a button, after which it goes back to 30/60 and the prior resolution.

As for recording for an hour straight, that's just down to how much storage you've got.

[Corrie]

I don't know if lifter types care about high framerates, but there's a Casio for $200 that goes from 640x480 to 1080p and up to 500 frames per second, though of course the resolution drops as you push the framerate. It also has a burst mode so you can record 30 or 60 fps and push it up to 250 or so by pressing a button, after which it goes back to 30/60 and the prior resolution.

As for recording for an hour straight, that's just down to how much storage you've got.

The high framerate can be nice if you want to slow things way down and see every little detail of what you're doing. But other than that it's probably not worth paying more for. 500fps is cool though! Surprised a little casio can do that.

[Red Finn]

High framerates can be a godsend, but they matter more if your club or racquet is moving through the air at a hundred miles an hour, for example. Weight- or powerlifters don't move quite so fast.

[Gary Gibson]

Thanks for all this so far, y'all. I had the old flip, but it would always download the videos stretched out along one dimension. My cell phone isn't completely horrible for recording decent vids, but the upload is unreliable. Also, I was looking to spend as little as possible because I'm only going to be using this camera for one purpose. Maybe something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

I am not savvy at all about this shit. I'm just having a hell of a time recording myself on this smartphone without a partner to hold it, and then uploading the videos.

[Derf123]

Don't know your budget of course, but I bought a Sony Cybershot RX100, which will fit in my pocket - but still gives great quality shots and film. To my eyes anyway.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony...shot-dsc-rx100

[Tiburon]

Got a Kodak playful from the inlaws for Xmas, works great

[strideknight]

Don't know enough about cameras, but if you end up needing a way to hold your camera once you have one (problem I ran into), check out Gorillapod. Cheap and you can setup anywhere.