A Camera Finally
Finally got a camera again. It’s not yet the one I was saving up for but it’s a start 
I was looking for a small camcorder to accompany the big one, to use as backup and those hard-to-reach places where big broadcast ones cannot go. Saving up for the big gear takes time and I wanted to get my hands dirty right away. The wishlist therefore was quite comprehensive considering my budget of around 400 Euros: DV-in and out, good manual controls, best possible image quality and of course mini-DV.
Since most mid-range consumer level camcorders are now DVD or HDD the choices appear to be a little limited if you look in the high street. Also, the reviews I had from DVinfo.net and camcorderinfo.com are US focused, so getting the “editors picks” over in Germany prooves a little hard. Why don’t I use German review sources? Simple, I don’t know them and the way Germans are testing gear is not what I’m looking for (Germans have a funny way of testing things, too clinical IMHO).
To cut a long story short, I found an gem in the Canon MVX 20i. It’s small, yet not too small and it has everything I wished for, for under 400 Euros from an online retailer called dnet24.de.
You can find a great in-depth review of the Canon MVX20i and its not very much bigger brother 25i on SimplyDV.net.
The only shame is that I spotted a dead pixel on the fold out screen already. It’s not really that bad but it’s a little annoying nevertheless. Also, a little camera noise can be heard and the colour viewfinder is – as on most consumer camcorders – absolute rubbish. Again as with most consumer camcorders, there’s no way to manually adjust audio recording levels. Other than that, it’s a great little camcorder for the money.
Although it’s only intended as a backup cam and tape-deck, I recommend buying the Rode VideoMic to get the most out of it. The difference between the build-in mic and a proper external one is tremendous! You can find a decent review on the VideoMaker.com test bench. The VideoMic can be found on eBay for under a hundred Euros / Dollars plus shipping.
Sources:
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Camcorders/Digital/MVX20i
http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Reviews/canon_mvx25i.html
http://www.videomaker.com/scripts/article.cfm?id=12163
http://www.rodemic.com/?pagename=Products&product=VideoMic
