Advice On Digital Cam Corder

[fatgaz]

hi peeps Im after a digital camcorder and need some guidence please, if I list what I would like and my budget could peeps advise if poss or not and also if poss what ones would do the job ty
1, would like a long battery life if poss 3hrs +
2, plug in external mike
3, wide angle lens
budget ould be no more than £500
thanks in advance to any replies

[Buenchico]

The standard battery that comes with any camcorder (other, possibly, than mega-expensive professional models) is unlikely to give you anywhere near to 3 hours recording time. So it would make sense to allocate part of your budget to one or more (preferably high-capacity) spare batteries.

The Panasonic HC-V770 gets good reviews for a budget camcorder. It's available from Amazon for £335. The 20x zoom lens has the 'wide angle' end of its range at 30mm (using the '35mm film equivalent' way of measuring it), which is about as wide as you can get without encountering the 'fish-eye' effect of a super-wide angle lenses. It's got a socket for an external stereo microphone. You only get about an hour's recording time from a standard battery (VW-VBT190, about £26 for a Duracell one) but you can get double that time from the long-life version(VW-VBT380, about £30 for a Duracell one), so you could buy the camcorder and some long-life batteries, still staying within your budget and with enough left over to buy an external mike.

[TheChair]

GoPro Hero Black Bundle would seem to fit the bill if you add the Media Mod (which adds a directional mic, and a socket for external mic). The Bundle consists of the camera, spare battery, head strap, shorty grip, and 32GB SD Card. It costs 429.99, but you can get 100 quid of by trading in any digital camera in any condition. The Media Mod costs 80 quid.

[fatgaz]

Hi peeps, ty for your replies I have looked at both options and have decided to go with the Panasonic HC-V770, thanks againg for all the advice given much appreciated