What is a great video camera to use at a concert?

Is Flip Video camera good for a concert?

• I'm thinking of buying a Flip Video Camera. I want to use it for a concert I'm going to. I have some questions: 1) Which Flip Video camera is the best? 2) How good is the sound and image quality? 3) How long will the battery last? 4) How long can you record? Thanks for the answers!

• Answer:

  You need a lesson on camcorder microphones. The standard Consumer level camcorder, HD or SD Microphones, are all the same. They get their best audio to a point about 4 feet from the camcorders microphone. The further than that you move, the audio capture quality diminishes. In a noisy environment, that fall off is near vertical. So off you go with your camcorder, you get to the concert and your in the 17th row on the floor. The band comes on, you fire up your camcorder and start recording. the concert ends and off you go to your editing program. You get the footage on your computer, view it and this is what your hear. The audios best parts are of the bands biggest fan, sitting right in front of you, singing, talking, foot stomping, yelling and snorting. then the nearer background noises are mostly the same thing. The band, if they can be heard at all, are very faint in the background of the audio. If you want the best possible audio, do what is required to get a feed from the mixer to camcorders MIC port or a Digital Audio recorder. Be prepared to offer the cable you need to use on their system, this means having many cables at your disposal. Then, because you cannot get to a microphone, have fun syncing the audio and video back together.