Is there a camcorder that meets these specifications?

Sorry buddy, but an HD cam for under $250 doesn’t currently exist. You need to save up some more otherwise you have to go non-HD. Also a videocamera for machinima? Why not get a cheap capture card. It looks a lot better too.

@hypeserver ANNT-Wrong (the price is in AU)

The only reason I don’t get that one now, is because they don’t specify make or model, so I can’t look up anything about it. And capture cards don’t work with laptops, and the only good one for a laptop is $100, and I can’t record other, non-television items with a capture card.

On second thought, I’m fine with non-HD anyway, as long as the quality is good. But HD is still preferred, as that camera is my best bet right now.

There’s external capture cards that pinnacle systems makes. There’s also external usb capture cards by elgato. You still can’t get a good cam with the specs you want for that price range. You can get an external capture card for that range though, but you’ll need to buy additional things as well.

I don’t want a capture card for $100 (yes, it’s from pinnacle) when I can get a HD camcorder for $200!

sigh I think you fail to see my point. Never-the-less have fun finding a good camera with your specs in that price range as I had already specified. (Not trying to be a jerk, just trying to get my point across.)

Camcorderinfo.com

@kevbo That’s a pretty nice site, but I was curious, was there a specific cam you found on there?

The one I bought two years ago was more than what you’re wanting (and prices were higher then). It’s just a good site for slicing and dicing your specs.

$250 is way too low for an HD camcorder. All the ones I’m seeing now are at least $800 and I’m amazed they are that cheap. In fact, I can’t find any decent regular-def camcorder under $250 that I’d be willing to buy.

The ebay auction you link to is really sketchy to me. I would never buy that camera even if you paid for it for me. It’s simply too good to be true and would likely fall apart pretty quickly. That or the software that it comes bundled with will be 100% Engrish.

So you need to up your budget, or eliminate your HD requirement, for us to give you a more realistic recommendation.

@dynamicduo Check the link in my first response. They do exist.

fortris, did you misread my reply? Not only did I read the link, but I explicitly explained that the camera in that link is either a scam or made by some unknown company from China and I would never use that camera even if it was given to me for free (if the camera itself didn’t break, I would always be suspect of the quality of the data it saves). It sounds too good to be true, thus is is. But hey, go ahead and prove me wrong, buy that camera because it’s the only “HD” camcorder you’ll ever find at that price. You can’t reference eBay and point to the price as being definite, it’s an auction site, not the manufacturer’s site!

@dynamicduo I never said its not made by some unknown company in China (Speed is the name, apparently) or won’t break, but there isn’t much reason to doubt that it isn’t actually HD.

I will admit that it’d be pretty hard for a company to advertise HD but not deliver it. But when you’re dealing with unbelievably cheap merch on eBay, one should be a bit more cautious compared to shopping in a store.

I decided to do some research into the brand and found Speed’s site, here’s a page that details the specs on one of their cameras. Already I see problems. Such as having no regular zoom other than optical zoom, which is not a zoom lens but is actually interpretation of pixels and thus looks like garbage. And a built in memory capacity of 13 megabytes, max capacity externally of 8GB. That tells me a lot right there. I have done HD production, albeit on an actual Sony camera they use for TV and films, and I had video clips that were 5GB each on average. The portable hard drive that was our “film” was a multi-terrabyte hard drive.

Honestly, you’re not going to find anything cheaper than that Speed model. So if price is your limiting thing, well you have no other option really than the Speed one you saw. But I still recommend against it.

Good luck in your quest.

Well, if the battery holds up, I don’t use zoom much (not past X2 or 3 anyhow) and I have SD cards, it sounds like the most reasonable deal. But if you know some cheap high quality (not HD) alternatives, go ahead and list them.

Ooh! Here is the camera model I found on eBay with the specs!

@fortris If you tried zooming even that little on one of their cameras I guarantee to you that it will look like crap. Also the camera you just linked to looks terrible. I’m sure if you out the camera to a test the actual video quality would be dreadful. As @dynamicduo has stated eBay is not a reliable source and the manufacturers site doesn’t seem to reliable either.

YOU GUYS ARN’T HELPING! Don’t tell me that this camera is crap, suggest alternatives! This is a question answering website, and nobody is actually answering the initial question in their response.

Don’t throw a fit because you’re not thinking logically. You can’t find a good camera for that price range. This is exactly why nobody has recommended any specific cameras for you. If you want check out the site that kevbo linked to earlier. It has reviews on a ton of cameras and helps give you a good idea. I don’t want to play the age game here on guessing your age, but if you could act a little more mature that would be wonderful. I’m not trying to be a jerk by any means, but it doesn’t seem that the point is not getting across to you all that clearly.

Your question is unanswerable unless you increase your budget or reduce your specs. Your disrespectful tone and attitude has made me not want to answer your question though even if you did provide the details. Have fun trying to find your camera.

dynamicduo I have to agree with you. The immaturity and disrespect from fortris is not what I want to experience when I hop onto Fluther everyday.

Ugg, forget it. I don’t think Fluther has very helpful users.

And you guys are very pretentious.

Non-helpful users on Fluther? Sorry, this does not compute. Please try again later.

See? Very pretentious.

Welcome to the internet-sarcasm at it’s finest.

At its lowest, maybe. No, any meme is lower than this, so this is one above that.

[mod says:] Flame off people. Remember, we are a community dedicated to helping each other out using our prior experience and skills. That does not mean that we will always have the best answer and it does not mean that the asker takes the help for granted. If you do not find the answers suitable to your needs, you are always free to do your own research or seek a professional’s help. There is no need to engage in personal attacks from either side. Thank you.

Thanks PnL for the advice. I only meant to joke around with the sarcasm bits, but point taken. Thanks again.