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I am looking for a cheap 1080p camcorder to record teaching from a desk in a room with potentially low levels?

I am looking for a cheap 1080p camcorder to record teaching from a desk in a room with potentially low levels. It needs to be able to have an external mic used and the external mic port be full stereo and not mono (many I have found have stereo for the built in mic and mono for the external mic). I have looked at many of the smaller flip-type camcorders, but do find little information about which would be best for this application. Most reviews shows beautiful outside scenes, so they do not show quality under settings similar to mine.

Any HDV camcorder will work. http://motionpicturecentral.com/filmmaking/camcorders/camcorders-and-your-needs/

You can find brand name HDV models in your price range on Amazon and perhaps eBay. These record to standard miniDV and HDV tape. The cheapest tape is the Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ Professional Quality 63 minute digital video tape on Amazon in packs of 10 tapes for under $35. That’s half the price of Wal-Mart. If you need to record longer, uninterrupted video, 83 minute tapes are also available for under $60 per a pack of 10. http://motionpicturecentral.com/filmmaking/camcorders/choosing-a-camcorder/

* Video: You don’t need “full” 1080p unless you are burning the video to Blue-ray disc and those discs are playing on a 1080p screen. If you are broadcasting the video through TV, the video will be 1280×720 (unless you are using HD satellite broadcasting).

You also don’t need HD for certain editing, storage and distribution devices. If your editing software can’t handle HD video, your HD camcorder can export the HD video instantly in standard definition. For this situation, you can record in HD, and instantly export HD video from your camcorder in SD. If your editing software is HD capable but your audience needs SD, you can have your editing software export the final HD video in SD too (which is the most common conversion technique). If you are burning to standard DVD, the video will be converted to standard definition by your DVD burning software before burning it to disc.

* Audio: You don’t need stereo if you are recording voice. Voice is always Mono, so it comes through both the left and right speakers evenly. Stereo adjusts the volume so that if the subject speaking in on the left side of the screen, the sound is adjusted so that it comes more from the left speaker than from the right one. There are also other factors to consider, but mono voice recording should work fine for you. http://motionpicturecentral.com/filmmaking/camcorders/camcorder-audio/

In professional video, voice is mono regardless of the speaker’s location. If you get a good look at professional video rigs, each microphone is set up by default to be recorded in mono. The only time this changes is if you absolutely need to create a dramatic audio effect by voice. We don’t know of anyone who has needed to create dramatic stereo effect by voice in a video lesson. Feature Films in the theatre, on TV, and on DVD are also primarily in mono.

If you truly need good direct, clean audio from the speaker, you have several choices. The most common solution is to set up a good quality microphone in front of the speaker. If you do not want the microphone to be so obvious, use a lavaliere or a lapel microphone system. The commonly come in mono, but you can find stereo models as well. If you need to hide the microphone, you can set up a shotgun mic on the camera or on a separate microphone stand.

Find the camcorder you need for the price you want first. Your needs don’t require a professional rig, but your wants dictate that you do. If the camcorder you choose does not have the audio capabilities you desire or the external microphone connections you want, you can purchase external, stand-alone audio recording units. These can be small as digital voice recorders, or you can get professional models from M-Audio, Sony, Zoom, Tascam, and so on… These often have their own stereo microphone system, and most can accept at least 2 external XLR or 1/4″ microphone connections.

If you need to save money, you might want to try the Pinnacle Video Transfer device. http://motionpicturecentral.com/equipment/video-capture/pinnacle-video-transfer/ It can record audio and video separately, and yes, the audio input is set up for stereo. This device can also instantly transfer video from the camcorder to computers as well as to iPods, iPhones, Sony PSPs, and YouTube.

* Again, your situation does not require what you say you want, but to do what you want, you might consider recording the video separately or to the Pinnacle device, and you would do the same with the audio. Your video editing software can combine separate audio and video recordings.

* You will need a lot of hard drive space to store all your edited video. a 500gb hard drive is recommended. They are available for $50 in large desktop sizes and under $100 for small laptop, pocket-portable sizes. Also know that if you decide to purchase a camcorder that records to flash video or HDD instead of tape, you will need to purchase a larger hard drive. 1TB Fantom Green drives are available from MacMall for under $80

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