mtnmanak
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Mtnmanak-thanks for the advice which appears to be based on a ton of experience. Those were exceptional videos that you attached to your post!
Which specific camcorders do you recommend for both 1080p and 4K? In addition, I enjoyed your level 3 build-beautiful job. Please respond or send pm on how to find the full build file if available.
Regards,
Fred
Hi Fred -
Here are my top picks for camcorders available right now, in order of cost:
Under $300: Sony HDRCX405 - https://www.amazon.com/Sony-HDRCX405-Recording-Handycam-Camcorder/dp/B00R5LH9HO
At this price point, you are getting a full 1080p camera, but you are giving up a lot in the lens, the optical zoom and the stabilization. Still, at this price, this is a great camera!
$300-$500 - Panasonic HC-W580K - https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-HC-W580K-Camcorder-Wi-Fi-Camera/dp/B01A60SXRK
Stepping up to the HCW580, you are still at 1080p, but you get a better lens, a massive increase in optical zoom capabilities and better stabilization. I have played with this camera on some far away shots and this may actually be one your best options for trying to capture video of rockets at high altitude. It also has the somewhat kitschy "twin camera" that some Panasonics include. It is one of those features that sounds better than it works in practice, but, it is cool they throw it in at this price point.
$500-$600 - Panasonic HC-V800K - https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-HC-V800K-Cinema-like-Camcorder-Stabilizer/dp/B078J43SQW
If you want a really great 1080p camera, it is hard to beat the HC-V800. The Leica lens is excellent, the zoom and stabilization are top notch and you get HDR color. I do not own this camera, but have tried it. It is very good, but I have a hard time recommending it since, at this price point, you are in spitting distance of a decent 4K camera.
$700-$800 - Panasonic HC-VX981K - https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Camcorder-HC-VX981K-2-3-Inch-Smartphone/dp/B01A60SYRE
This is the price point I recommend getting into 4K. You can definitely find cheaper 4K camcorders (you can get a bunch of Minolta 4Ks for under $200, but they are stupendously crappy camcorders), but I think that, under this price point, the features on the 1080p cameras outweigh the resolution advantage. The VX981 was my first 4K camcorder and I absolutely loved it. I have probably 150 hours of my kids' sports, musicals, marching band, etc recorded on this camera and it always gave me incredible results. A few years ago, I stupidly left it on the back of a 4 wheeler while riding around on a farm field and one sharp turn sent it flying... and breaking. I almost bought another one, but decided to upgrade to a:
$1000+ - Sony FDR-AX700 - https://www.amazon.com/Sony-FDR-AX700-4K-HDR-Camcorder/dp/B075NZYZDG
This has been my favorite camcorder for the better part of 3 years now and I can't imagine not having it in my camera bag. Sony packed in most of the power and options of their extremely expensive pro-cams into this model, yet it is still small enough to be hand held easily. There are a ton of aftermarket accessories to trick it out for fast motion recording. It also does a great job on my electronics bench to record close up work like the videos I have done for eggtimer boards (example: ).
The Zeiss lens is amazing, the HDR quality is superb and the sensor is unparalleled at this price point. One of the things you get in high end cameras is better/fast focusing. The AX700 has an amazing ability to find that rocket spec at high altitude and focus in on it.
As you go from the low end to the high end, there are number of things that you may not think about up front, but become really important. For example, the higher end cameras usually have better batteries that last longer. No matter which camera you get, make sure to buy at least one spare for the field. High end cameras also usually have more expansive storage options. This is not trivial if you get a 4K camera. An hour of 4K video can often hit about 40GB. You need large storage that is fast enough to write all that massive amount of data to the card without skipping frames. Super fast, large capacity SD cards are not cheap - make sure you factor that cost in.
For the AGM-33 build, you can find all of it here, along with a PDF of the L3 submission packet:
https://www.mountainmanrockets.com/index.php/builds/8-inch-agm-33-pike-build/
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