Looking for a low budget camcorder for practising in film directing.

OlgaK

Honorable
Jan 7, 2014
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10,510
Hello,
It is my first year at university where I am studying audiovisual arts. Film directing and cinematography are more specifically what I would like to study later on. We have been told that we will not need any equipment until the third year but I would like to practice on some techniques and gain some experience. I would like some (professional, if possible) guidance on what camcorder should I begin with and the features the product must have. I can't spend more than 700€ / 950$. I have found a low price camcorder I like and I read good reviews too, it is the Canon VIXIA HF R400 Full HD, but I do not know if it is what I need.
I would be very grateful if you could clear up these questions for me.
 
You will want to find a camcorder with as many manual controls as possible. I would advise against using things like auto focus and auto anything really if you want to get good at what you do. You would want manual focus, the ability to change the aperture (f/stops), external microphone and headphone connectors, ability to control shutter speed, etc.
The Canon 32GB VIXIA HF G20 Full HD Camcorder might be a better choice though it is a bit more expensive ($849.99) than the Canon VIXIA HF R400 Full HD. As for professional equipment you might be able to find something used but finding a new professional camera for under $1000 is extremely unlikely.
 

Theninjaman01

Honorable
Dec 16, 2013
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10,510
You might want to consider getting a DSLR... they give a very nice film look (with some good colour correction of course). You cant go wrong with cannon.

Check out the cannon 60D and 550D really good entry level DSLR's