 Hey guys welcome back to my YouTube channel this is Daniel Rosal here I want to record a video today about camcorders and why I believe that even in the year 2022 camcorders are still actually pretty solid purchases. First thing I want to say before going further is that I usually don't make YouTube videos if I see that somebody else on YouTube has covered a topic before. I figure what's the point in duplicating so before I started recording this video I did look up on YouTube and I saw there are a few people who have recorded videos about why they choose to use a camcorder over something like a DSLR or a mirrorless camera. So those videos though they really gave me a lot of encouragement and I didn't know the first thing to say is that you know this process for me of starting a YouTube channel running a YouTube channel is really a process that I'm basically kind of open sourcing my voice that's why I post videos about pretty much every topic and I've mentioned before that in time I'm going to probably start up a couple one or perhaps more YouTube channels you know more tightly focused on some of my main interests like technology for instance but up to now it's been pretty much me just open sourcing my journey with video so I'm by no means an expert but I have learned enough in the last few years to know that there are still some reasons why camcorders are actually decent and I want to add to the commentary a little bit with my reasons. First thing to say about camcorders now I've taken out my wife owns this camera which is a mirrorless camera it's a Sony alpha 6000 and I looked up the RRP the recommended retail price in the US at the moment this mirrorless camera sells for about $700 now when I was looking to start a video and that was about three years ago I said well I need a camera I'm not going to just shoot stuff on my phone and it is interesting to me that I never actually even thought about purchasing anything other than a camcorder what I decided to buy was this Canon Vixia HF-R800 which is really kind of at the entry level of Canon's spectrum. Now it surprised me later than when I went on to YouTube and I started looking for a best YouTube camera all I saw really was recommendations for mirrorless or DSLR cameras. Now the advantages that I personally got from this is for your $400 this is the RRP at the moment of the Vixia HF-R800 I went for this particular camcorder because it was the cheapest camcorder I could buy that had an external audio port it's got a 3.5 millimeter jack here and that means that you can basically work with almost any microphones you can buy yourself a shotgun mic or a lavalier microphone and you can use it with the camcorder now by comparison when I was playing around with my wife's mirrorless camera here this Sony model you can get a couple of mics it'll play that'll connect to the to the hot shoe over here but it just kind of really surprises me that you can spend $700 on a piece of camera gear and you won't even get those basic accessorization ports now there was one limitation on this Vixia in that it didn't have a cold shoe and that is why a couple of weeks ago I decided to double down on my camcorder voyage and I picked up this Canon XA40 camcorder this is a entry level professional camcorder and this really takes it a little bit further in terms of ports you do get your your your shoe attachment you get a top handle and it's got XLR ports here which put out phantom power for professional audio so I think of a few advantages and disadvantages of going with a camcorder versus something like this Sony product the first thing the first real main difference about camcorders I guess is that the type of camcorders we're looking at as opposed to cinema cameras which is a different market or fixed lens so you get a lens and that's kind of fixed in place it's part of the form factor of the camcorder now that doesn't mean and I think that some people think this that you're stuck with exactly that lens you can buy aftermarket attachments at least for the Vixia and for this wide that'll give you wide angles you can get telephoto attachments as well you can get macro lens filters you can get of course ND filters you can get CPL filters so there is actually a market there's stuff you can do with the lens you just don't have as much versatility as a non-fixed lens camera that you can buy lenses which have very much different vibes and fields so it was an interesting experience I was recently editing together a video shot from two cameras I shot with a camcorder my friend Marcus James who says he watches my youtube videos this is his real test shot footage with a mirrorless and when I looked at the two side by side in my editing tool the footage my friend shot with the with the mirrorless was a lot more cinematic it had that kind of it was a lot vibier and I can see why people really like it especially when you're looking for stuff like bokeh the blurry background but the footage I got from my camcorder I was also happy with in a very different way it just felt very solid to me it wasn't kind of you know I was shooting on automatic mode and it just came out really decent it wasn't nothing was wrong with it as he said it wasn't maybe as impressive looking visually but it was like decent footage so if you're just looking for video capture something that will do a really really good job and be a workhorse at that tool I think that's a reason why camcorders are still still have a following the second reason and this is kind of why I mentioned the cameras I bought is accessorization and that's where I came to the conclusion that I was spending a lot of time and effort that was getting annoyed of actually going out and shooting in terms of getting stuff rigged up putting the lights on getting microphones on when you start with a form factor like this there's two things firstly shooting with this kind of a camera professional camcorder with the classic top handle look it's really really satisfying the fact that it's heavier is actually kind of a feature it's not you know they don't just throw in lead plates here to make it heavier but that little bit of added weight really helps with stability when you're shooting handheld so if you compare that to shooting with a mirrorless and you know there are ways to stabilize it like using the using the necktie a little bit and stuff like that but that form factor for video doesn't have to be that bulky and can also be actually a big advantage in terms of accessorization adding things on when you starting with a rig like this you just need to attach a shotgun and add a shotgun mount and put it on you can keep it on some pro camcorders actually have built-in lights and shotgun microphones that are actually part of the design they're physically attached and they're not removable so that's another option versus starting with something like a DSLR mirrorless that basically is a photography camera and if you want to do stuff like adding lights and adding microphones you need to rig around this you need to use brackets and adapters etc in order to in order to get yourself those accessories so I think that's what that is basically why camcorders remain really popular with ENG there's a standard for electronic news gathering for TV stations for documentarians you know for people who are operating that kind of fast moving run-and-gun environment and some people think well that's the only use nowadays for camcorders but I think there's a lot of people who find run-and-gun really useful all I have to do I can be operating in five seconds turn on the power open the lens run the camera in automatic modes that was three seconds and we're up and going and I can have everything pre-rigged so I think that you know if you are looking to do the conclusion I've come to is if you're looking to do really cinematic work you know in terms of getting as I said bokeh and playing around with different lenses then DSLR or mirrorless is probably a better option if you're more interested in having something that just does plain basic footage for your documentary the footage doesn't have to be maybe super cinematic but it's really really reliable and you don't be running into stuff like file capture size limits and you want to have something first and foremost that you can just pop out of your camera bag and it's going to be good to go and you know as I just timed myself five seconds I was up and running and then I think camcorders are still very valid options there still is a market for camcorders but the thing that is jumps out to me is how much less vibrant the market is so when I when you're looking at the camcorder market for anybody thinking about buying one of these one thing I did notice is you kind of have these really really basic consumer cameras then you've got the action cameras that are better for vlogging so if you want to do vlogging with a camcorder you should probably look for a vlogging or an action camera and the difference is that lens the fixed lens on that camera would have a really good wide lens option designed to shoot you from a range like this and not be super in your face which is when I try to vlog on the Vixia this just doesn't really work well for vlogging at least not without the wide angle lens aftermarket attachment then it becomes kind of chunky so yeah that's basically what I have to say about why I've chosen to go down the camcorder route I would say this and that's that having just bought this I think it's the most amazing piece of gear I've owned to date and that probably includes other technology categories and having these XLR ports available to me on something I carry around with me means that I can basically use and given the fact that they're phantom powered I can use any microphone there's no limits now in terms of what I can shoot with when I have a gear like this and you know versus something of this nature which shoots kind of more visually impressive footage but my first question is well if I want to use a lav mic and it's 3.5 mils this thing that I can't work with it and you know where would I put a light is there an extra shoe I have to start thinking about accessorization and for someone like me who's I guess kind of a bit technically minded that ultimately becomes a distraction from simply storytelling and gathering footage which is what it's kind of it's all about at the end of the day personally my needs are served better by something like this they can just put into a backpack put into a camera bag take out start shooting and if I looked like a soccer mom or a soccer dad then so be it I prefer these guys so that's my spiel on why I've chosen to invest money in owning camcorders rather than owning DSLR or mirrorless I know a lot of people really like the other types and some people even use cinematic cameras for stuff like YouTube which is again a separate product category as a sort of early stage or rookie videographer the intention here isn't to argue with you there are people who will know 100 times more about cameras than me who might watch this video and I just want to say I just wanted to put my opinion out and throw my hat in with the ring throw my hat into the ring of the declining but passionate group of camcorder fans that are still very much out there and there are still manufacturers like Canon Panasonic JVC making camcorders both in the consumer market consumer market and of course then you also have the professional and ENG market I won't go on any further if you're also a camcorder fan and you're also resisting the the huge trend towards DSLR mirrorless feel free to leave me a comment we encourage one another people who are into camcorders just want to quickly mention there is a subreddit for camcorders there are Facebook groups if you want to connect with other people who are into camcorders there is definitely good online community if you find that helpful I personally find the Canon community super helpful the other time I have a question I can figure out myself or with the instruction manual I post there sometimes they help other people and it's really great so yeah that's it if you want to get more videos from me please feel free to subscribe to this youtube channel and thank you for watching