Camera for live feed

[DFUNC]

Hi all,

I want to buy a video camera I?m using to remix a live feed (e.g. the party crowd).

I?m not quite sure if I should buy a surveillance camera, like this one for about 60?
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...970135341&rd=1

Or if I should invest more and buy a real dv camcorder. Then I would have a zoom.

What do you suggest? Do I have to pay attention to something special?

Thanks a lot,
Jan

[wellREDman]

i'd go with a cheapie camcorder, with security cameras, although they say they are low lux, in low lightr conditions they go black and white, Automatically so you cand fiddle with settings etc.

[DFUNC]

Good point. Thanks.

[spork]

Hey folx, I'm interested to hear if there is a consensus on good consumer camcorders- on the cheap end- for use as a live feed.

The sony family has nightshot- is this widely available/as good with other brands?

but most importantly, many camcorders have a 'feature' where they turn themselves off to save power, even when plugged into their DC adapters!

this feature is a crippler when trying to run live feeds, the workaround, after hunting through their menu system for some setting to switch, is to just keep a tape in there recording.

Has anyone found a camcorder with a setting to make it stay on? It would be much appreciated.

(We've used the DVX100 from Panasonic and they can be made to stay on- do other low end Panasonics have this ability?)

[VJFranzK]

that "feature" is such a "turn off" for me, also.

and also the one where it goes into "random demo fx mode" (though it's occasionally interesting)

[krezrock]

try putting a tape in the camera. then put the camera into Memory mode. Not Camera mode. Camera mode will wait for you to start the tape, after ten minutes it will shut itself off. In memory mode it wait's infinitely for you to take a snap.

[robotfunk]

They don't build in such a thing just to bug you.
There is quite a bit of tension on the little stretch of tape between the heads when its paused. If it didn't disengage after a few minutes, your DV tapes would snap and forums would be full of "Brand X kills my magic filled tapes and all they care to replace is the tape".

The solution is simple, remove the tape if you want it to stay on, or keep recording.

[spork]

nice to hear there is probably a reason for this annoying feature- tape tension and treasured memories ruined from eventual snapping.

though the DVX100s we have at work don't care, tape, no tape, they just stay on and don't turn themselves off.

this is the kind of first hand 'i had this problem once and fixed it' sort of thing that'll make me go out and get whatever DVcam that is vouched for...(or at least test it in a store...)

Thanks to krezrock for the suggestion of memory mode--- but this cam could end up being put in some semi-inacessible place and have to be turned off/on via remote- could it be powered up and down and remember to just stay on when on?

also sometimes these other modes for cameras with memory sticks etc- do they disable the analog video outs?

[djnada]

I have a cheap sony digital 8 camcorder that I put on Night vision and then put it in memory stick mode and it stays on all night.

[Meierhans]

Like mentioned in another tread some Sony handy cams have the big advantage that they spill out full frame video when in memory stick / photo mode. This is very handy since you don`t need to spend CPU cycles on deinterlacing and don`t loose quality.