Which camcorder would be best for making youtube videos?

Good camcorder/camera for making youtube videos?

• My friends and I are making youtube videos right now with a decent camcorder and we are looking for a better high quality one. Within a reasonable price range, meaning under $700. We want one that will shoot good/high quality because we are currently working on a full webseries. If you know of some good cameras/camcorders let us know, Thanks.

• Answer:

  As long as your video quality isn't too atrocious, the type of camera you use isn't nearly as important as other things, like content, editing, audio, etc. Just about anything from Sony, Canon, or Panasonic will probably do the job. Of course, the more you spend, the better the image will be ... but if your web series is interesting, nobody is going to worry much about the video quality. Be sure that you get good microphones and audio for your series. That's at least as important as a good image. Ditto for maybe a tripod and fluid head, some lights and reflectors, a boom for the mic, and stuff like that. Don't spend every dime on the camera itself. While DV tape might give you a nicer image, it's also a huge pain to edit, compared to memory cards or disks that you can upload directly to a computer for non-linear editing. Memory cards aren't as fragile as DV tape, too. In short, if you spread your budget around to get reasonable quality equipment in every respect, instead of spending a lot on one thing and nothing on another, you'll get better results. Maybe just settle for a mid-range, decent camcorder, plus other equipment that you really shouldn't do without. A mid-range camcorder on a tripod with some extra light and a reflector might look ten times better than an expensive camera in available light only, hand-held.