The Best Cheap HD Cameras for Filmmakers - Film Riot

[prokysoft]

You can be a Filmmaker, but this guys definetely cannt be an actors!

[NotHumanful]

Man this vid was funny

[SilasRowlandTv]

I'm just starting and want a very good hd camera. Is there anything that I can get below 1,500. Give me specific names

[yougotnosteeze]

is there any cameras better than the t2i for recording action sports in the same price range?

[drf22]

I dare you to film using a Kodak Playsport zx3 or zx5. I wanna see your talent with one of them cameras.

[xxshannabeexx]

I laughed hella hard when he did the hair flip xD omg

[maxpower789z]

HD don't mean shit if the content is crap

[egotisticcougar]

What would you suggest for a cloverfield style film? Where it looks like a home movie but still good quality?

[tacobelldriver]

hahahahahaha Netflix!

[Mambo2able1]

any work good with movie make XP

please answer

[ynaz]

omg the actors

[plebantyler]

Uh last time I checked $1000 wasn't cheap :/

[TheDancingSaxophone]

@plebantyler It is relatively cheap for a professional camera. It would be akin to, say, an $1000 guitar. It's relatively cheap compared to $3000+ Gibson's and PRS's.

[RandomTechUniversity]

PEOPLE! If you want a good camera that's REALLY cheap, listen:

Get the Sony HDR-CX110. It about $300, and it shoots awesome quality. Go look up some video tests on YouTube! TRUST ME! ;)

[RockstarrRoyaL]

if you have 900 $ why dont you just get a dslr?

[BachStar1]

I have a t2i, and love it. Highly recommended!

[Hygoog]

is the Panasonic HDC TM900 a good camera?

[CrappedATriangle]

@Hygoog I have a HDC-TM40 and its alright for YouTube, but dark colors come out grainy and muddy. I wouldn't recommend anything under $275.

[Hygoog]

@CrappedATriangle i just ordered the TM900k its quite pricey but hopefully it's worth it lol

[LG141602]

@CrappedATriangle hey what do you think about the Canon sx40 HS for a small movie

[CrappedATriangle]

@LG141602 I'm only 12, but check the specs on it. Also, check for 1080p video and look for test videos. If you want it to look good, look for some footage filmed in it's highest resolution. If you find the picture to be bad looking, don't go with it.

[MsLittleBitPretty]

you got my subscription because of this episode... NICE!

[DuncamProductions]

if you have 900$, why not just get a t3i with a 18-135mm lens?

[ListedProduction]

Lolololol Cynthia Rothrock

[BGFilms95]

T-T-T-T-T-T-T2i....

[ZincoZ4ever]

cheese bro...cheese

[erlejomo]

anyone notice when he catches the bat it flips around?

[peterwXXX]

Have you updated this topic? in 2012, what can people get for sub-1000.00?

[pungai28]

What about the panasonic TM900? I got it for £650 and it looks better than the ones in the video.

[CodBlocker26]

lol bring on the hate mail

[justgiz]

"Im filming you filming me... Im filming you filming me." - no your not, i can see the closed lenses cover....

[SuperShouse]

I own a t2i and I love it. Same video quality as the 7d, yet a fraction of the price.

[BASEBOSTED]

LOOK AT THIS COMMENT PLZZZZZZZZ

@ 6:43 he said netflix start $4.99 wow look at video upload 2009 dam lot has changed

[cjdog23]

this is the only ad i can actually stand to watch

[zzSMOKEx]

or just buy a t2i....

[7GGonzalez]

@zzSMOKEx does it have good fps???

[zzSMOKEx]

@7GGonzalez t2i has 1080p in 24fps and 30fps. while 720p is 60fps. plus it has 640p at 60fps

[7GGonzalez]

@zzSMOKEx what if I get the t3i, what does that have?



[BrickmensionFilms]

why not nikon?

[fivestarlesson]

@BrickmensionFilms Nikon is for photos only, canon pays much more to their video features and quality, and few Nikons have audio ins

[BrickmensionFilms]

@fivestarlesson are they any good for video?

[fivestarlesson]

@BrickmensionFilms if you've got one, go for it but if your buying one, stay away from Nikon

[1on1MW2]

GET EBAY I GOT A F*CKING 1080p for $12.00

[smuralisankar]

@callofduty7iscool how? where ?

[SupplyBeauti]

SLOW MO!! HAHAHAHAHA!

[Hidgerknight]

I got a 1080p camcorder for 38.00 sukka

[BrittanyNicole5123]

@Hidgerknight what camera is it?

[theguyinthefunnyhat]

I got a 720p for £40 Sukka!!! and it was waterproof. Sukka!!!

[TechGeek95]

@callofduty7iscool is it a cumcorder?

[closeupboard562]

EPIC!!! 5:40

[FacebookTheMetal]

@callofduty7iscool What camera Sukka!

[RubixProduction]

@callofduty7iscool where?

[romohammad]

i got a zero camera sukka!

[pr9nkaholic]

@callofduty7iscool Yeah, video is from 2 Dec 2009

[VantageCigarretes]

@callofduty7iscool your bolas is suck

[malteeaser101]

Discovery 1080P Super HD Video Camera (5x Optical + 14MP CMOS) Cam Corder can anybody tell me how good this camera is :L I can't find reviews or anything about it anywhere

[godmaster89]

I'm filming you filming me....LoL anyone else noticed the lens was closed?

[WimpyShiitRain]

@callofduty7iscool wheeeeere? whaaaat?

[BoysOnTramps]

@callofduty7iscool ya but its probally shitty and probs not 60 fps or good exposurer it probaly is shit

[WeirdFreeko]

@callofduty7iscool I got a 1080p camcorder for $100...awkward.

[mcphatstudios]

Hahahaha! Dude is funny as h.! ;)

[sproutbimal]

Oh hai! Have you tested bee4biz (search on google)? it is a url locker that pays every time someone completes your survey and unlocks your locked link. A friend of mine earns a lot of money with them just getting people to do surveys.

[suckmadeck]

@sproutbimal wow, cool spam bro :bean:

[TheSamreilly999]

@callofduty7iscool same yo sukkas i got a 1080p for 80£

[awesome9amer]

@TheSamreilly999 i got a 32p camcorder for 20$ sukka!!

[TheSamreilly999]

@awesome9amer lol

[MaxtorFireball]

@awesome9amer I got a potato recorder for 7 bucks sukka!

Srsly check my channel.

[NoSevenProductions]

I'm giving away an hd JVC EVERIO. check out my channel.

[SkewlBoyz]

@callofduty7iscool messege me plzzz lol

[NotStoopid0228]

Awesome. I have the CX130 :D

[HPTechHelp]

@callofduty7iscool you can get shit 1080p camcorders for like 80 bucks lol

[TheComputerNerd0101]

@callofduty7iscool It probably sucked...

[HPTechHelp]

@callofduty7iscool that doesn't mean its good though lol

[iceskater1]

Hahahaha this was awesome. I burst out laughing at the slow motion scenes. xD

This was really useful, thanks!

Do you know which camcorder has the best audio?

[cooleymovies]

well done twilight sucks

[teddzertell123]

wow cameras sucked in 2009!

[greatpictures1]

what kind of camera do you use?

[greatpictures1]

what kind of camera do you use Flea817

[EikonVideos]

And the Canon Rebel t2i?

[boogiemonster98]

@EikonVideos the video is 2 yrs old

[TheGSPFilms1]

@LookItsNatthan he never said he was a filmmaker...

[PingByter]

You guys just hope that videocameras could cost like 5€ lol

[ShazamVanBane]

dude these camcorders you reviewed suck

[MattJTV]

Just use a field recorder...

[AnnaSensee]

I saw that the Canon hv40 is on sale for $750 at Amazon.com :)

[AnalogX64]

They should to a review for people who are not filmmakers and want to shoot on a budget of $300-$500.

[crsiller]

i know a cheaper way, make a movie like paranormal activity

[Verbotten]

one word PANASONIC

[MoeRubaiaan]

fu*k this get flip

[stephos21]

it says cheap!not camera for cheapskates!

[Flea817]

@ChronicFatigueSyn The same could be said of any camera, which makes your statement irrelevant. And still, assuming you want to make a decent picture by today's standards with props and at the least costumes excluding special effects, you'll need a lot more than just one camera and some free labor.

Unless it's an extremely abstract film, in which case the budget could be used as a gimmick. But that's usually the result of a lack of funds in the first place.

[Flea817]

@ChronicFatigueSyn Okay. If you're making a documentary and only want one camera angle the entire duration in a picture quality that's "pretty good" in comparison to other cameras on the market, then go ahead.

To humor myself, however, I looked that camera up Used on eBay and the cheapest Buy It Now price was over $1,000. The only Auction that was $500 had over 5 days left with 12 Bids already placed. The camera started at $1.

Got to a filmmaker forum and say this shit and you'll be banned.

[Flea817]

@ChronicFatigueSyn Under $500 cameras usually aren't intended for filmmaking and the ones that are suck. Some great movies that are considered to have been made on a "tight budget" were Reservoir Dogs and Eraserhead, both of which took quite a bit more than $1000 dollars to make as debut releases. Even "guerilla" filmmaking usually takes a few thousand dollars to be decent.

As for that comment, it was made before mine and is the reason I made my comment to begin with.

u mad?

[theforrestfire1001]

NO HELP YOUR VIDEO SUCKS ALL OF THE PEOPLE DONT HAVE $1000

EVERYBODY UNSUBSCRIBE

[MsGhettoAss]

I've seen better and cheaper cameras that cost around $300 .. this is no help ..

[RedLottes]

lans flars are cool now

[KCalliope]

would you still recomment canon hv40 now in 2011?? please do another review for hd cameras if that is not true anymore!!! thanks for this review

[TonioleSuedois]

All these high prices are making me wanna jack a bitch!

[gamestopcamper]

what camera did you use for that netflix skit?

[Silverbleedy]

These camera's are probably even worse than my SLR camera o__o And that's less expensive...?!

[spectralofficial]

Why would I take tips about filming from a guy with such shitty video quality?

[asanineartist]

i really wish the last one didnt use cassettes....other than that, it'd be great

[Rooamazing]

Well Im never using Netflix, they will steal my car batteries. And because Netflix is shit also.

[IamMyMaker]

quaiposabvah

[SomaniVids]

what's that song you used for the stabalizer?? i loved it, brutha!

[Shaazada]

Which Camera have u recorded from 5:53 - 7:19, and whit lens or whitout lens?

have u put exta color in this scene?

[iTouchUpOnApps]

@ParanormalSeekersTv Rage?

[ElGuapCakes]

10:18  FILMCEPTION

[EwoKWorrioR]

just get a slr

[ypatrick365]

Why don't you just buy a dslr(canon t2i/t3i/60d)? they have amazing video and take great photos plus a wide selection of lenses if you can afford them.

[Tallaias]

jesus, you don't start talking about the cameras until 2 minutes in. instead of spending so long showing off fancy animations you should focus on making more concise and effective videos.

[Albert93230]

hehehe this

[TheDillaMonster]

Hey past! There is an iPhone 4 now!!!!

[justiceissrvd]

Affordable. I'll get one ^_^

[micke342]

people stop complaining YOU DONT HAVE TO BE RICH TO GET WHAT U WANT YOU GOTTA WORK FOR IT NOTHING IS EASY GET OFF YA ASS AND WORK FOR WHAT U WENT.. LAZY AS PEOPLE MANN

[stivaro]

@micke342 Speaking of lazy...take off your caps lock. lol But seriously...I haven't read ANY of the comments on here. But I will say, what about us people with a day job and a family that have a dream of doing this? I'm far from lazy. I've worked my ASS off for what I have. And now I'm working my ass off to make films. I did find this video helpful actually. Looking at the Canon.

[babeeshan9]

these advertations are better than the orginal ones!

[OrangeCarve]

I Filmed everything from 0:03 to 1:18, Scattered clips throughout, and also every slow-mo shot in this video /watch?v=QsfkSzmbDeo using the "Sanyo VPC-FH1A" that you can find for $350-$600. Compression hit hard on the quality when my buddy exported it using "iMovie". Better results are present when better software is used, but even so, it isn't horrible. Only downside is that it doesn't have an external mic input, you have to use the one built in. Or get creative and sync some audio.

[SoulDragonXI]

I do flimming 1000 is great!

[MassiveEffectCo]

LMAO "like the twilight sequel" XD

[Titleification]

get fujifilm hs20

[Titleification]

UNDER 1000?? get canon 500d

[landewebshow]

LOL, that camera for 900 is WAY Worse than my DSLR. I mean, the Canon XS is still being sold.

[Jackson9797]

im not rich i want a camera that is like $300! MAX

[Jackson9797]

im not rich i want a camera that is like $200!

[Flea817]

You people are fucking stupid. Under $1,000 at all is cheap when it comes to being a filmmaker, which I'm assuming none of you are.

[lindseythenarwhal]

@Flea817 I agree wholeheartedly. It's very much worth it to save up for a really great camera, and not so worth it limiting yourself to, say, $400 and ending up with bad quality, especially when it comes to filmmaking.

[Koryuhoka]

@Flea817 - Understood - but you should be assuming that the people looking for this info are those of us who have no experience or skills - who come here to get info they can use.

[iTzBoney]

@Flea817 Yeah I worked and my family's video market research and they do it all in HD and good quality and they are just using 5k camera's.

[TheRiocap]

@Flea817 twillight fag !

[Flea817]

@TheRiocap I don't like Twilight. My favorite director is David Lynch.

Who's yours?

[TheRiocap]

@Flea817 STEVEN SPIELBERG... and why dont you think these guys are filmmakers?

[amar123syla]

with 1000$ you can get a canon camera, that can shoot 10x better videos than these cameras do

[handsome2302]

yes, u would be nut to buy this camera . freaking expensive

[renenine]

THATS WHAT SHE SAID @ 4:06

[ACxD2011]

i like those demo that you guys are making haha so funny

[ACxD2011]

@MrDippeh yeah i know and its suck still $1000 box dang cheap for the rich people but not like to us still high for our wallet

[NewPrithvirajChauhan]

It isn't sexy ....

[longvinefilms]

Hello friend

[deademerald]

2 Years later, we have the Sony HDR-CX160, which is amazing. That is all.

[mandamoosic]

If he has such a hard time with the touch screen, he should just use the back of a pencil or something.

[xSimmsStudiosx]

i have a camera i got like 4 years ago and it was $120 and is CRYSTAL clear video but stills and zoom arent great

[nofxfannumba1]

this video is for cheap cameras for good quality, everyone who is saying things like "gosh we arent rich show under 500 dollar cameras" should be smart and realize that this guy is a serious film maker and he is telling all the other people who want to be serious filmmakers that these three cameras are good enough to film some good, without having the super, way more expensive 8000 dollar and 10000 dollar cameras. If you want good hd video quality 1000 dollars is the cheapest you can get them at

[francheskalola]

They think we are all rich.... omg people need to revaluate the info in their videos  before upload them.... -_)-

[ParanormalSeekersTv]

GOD WHY CANT YOU SHOW CHEAP CAMERAS UNDER $400 ALL UNDER $1000 IS NOT A CHEAP CAMERA WERE REGULAR PEOPLE NOT RICH PRICKS

[DaytonaRoadster]

@ParanormalSeekersTv poorfag

[TheEvolutionBullet]

@ParanormalSeekersTv You could get the Kodak Zi6 flip video which is what I use for my videos :)

[astroboomboy]

@ParanormalSeekersTv It says for filmmakers, if you want to make something with quality you have to make an investment, 1000$ is not a whole lot of money, even on minimum wage you can make that in a couple of months!

[ShootingStarStudioz]

@ParanormalSeekersTv lol i just spent 25,000 dollars on a camera im not a prick

[thesniper1191]

@ParanormalSeekersTv Well, my dad got a $1000 camera, but I wouldn't say it looks all that good for making movies for YouTube and such. If you want a great camera for more high-end movies/videos, usually it will cost much over $1000.

[HawkeyeXXV]

@thesniper1191 you are correct ~~but yiu can use youzr imagination with the cheaper cameras ~~ get a digital camera and get good software to edit digital footage ...read Robert Rodriguez' book "Rebel without a crew"

[benarddor]

@ParanormalSeekersTv i love your comment, and agree completely!

[CALICOTV301]

@ParanormalSeekersTv LMFAO! 

[CALICOTV301]

@ParanormalSeekersTv I think the HV20s,30s, 40s are great and affordable

[josiahtribbett]

@ParanormalSeekersTv

You are funny. $1000 is CHEAP these days. Get off your mom's couch and get a job!

[promotivemusic]

@ParanormalSeekersTv i'm not rich either, but i have a job, and it is affordable just put away some money on a monthly basis until you have enough :)

[kitsunex3]

@ParanormalSeekersTv

you know what, your not a rich prick, but you sure are a poor prick :D

lets see you give us good quality cameras under 400$ then~ obviously you know so much about cameras!

[jeffsbailey]

@ParanormalSeekersTv Compared to spending 10 - 30k on a camera it is... If you're making a living doing video then spending 1000 on a camera isn't anything.

[subconnect]

T2i 600 bucks beats them all

[clubpenguin580]

@beatles61 what's your camera called??

[harjinder14]

whats the super sexy slo mo music called?

[beatles61]

my camera is $100, and that has an external mic. It doesn't have the best quality, but if I record in b/w it makes it look like an art film.

[MakarovDesignsHD]

the netflix ad made me lmao... hahahahaha

[TheRealColeKane]

@MakarovDesignsHD Why?

[MakarovDesignsHD]

@TheRealColeKane its funny

[joessj5]

hat kind of camera are u using in this video?

[FXMachinima]

Why not a DSLR? like the canon 550D