5 Best FULL HD Family Video Cameras under $500 for 2011 | camcorders

Family consumer camcorders have taken a giant leap forward this year both in features and picture quality with the BIG 4 Brands, Canon, JVC, Sony and Panasonic setting the standard.

This year the best new features of camcorders are the choice of recording format with internal flash drive and 2 flash memory SD card slots for virtually unlimited recording times, recording at 1920×1080 Full HD 60p AVCHD and a high optical zoom.

A large touch panel LCD screen also helps. So after extensive research looking for the best video camera with all these features and more at less than $500, my selection of best HD camcorders all come just under the maximum, and I start with the best working down.

Just to make these video camera reviews easy to read for everyone, here is a quick explanation of all the shortened terms and abbreviations, starting with AVCHD. AVCHD is Advanced Video Coding High Definition.

AVCHD is a high quality H.264/MPEG-4 compression system used in many professional AVCHD camcorder models but now showing up in our Prosumer camcorder reviews and even in the high end Consumer camcorders. Only the big 4, Sony, Canon, Panasonic and JVC use the AVCHD Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution format in their HD consumer camcorders. Flash memory card slots may be described as for SD/SDXC/SDHC/SD cards.

These are usually just called an SD card with the other letters referring to faster speed cards, OIS means optical image stability and CMOS (Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) is the image sensor chip which used to be CCDs (charge coupled device) The letters SD, TM or HS before any model number describes the recording format as to an SD card only, TM means the video camera records to both SD cards and internal flash memory, and HS records to a hard drive. These HS camcorders can sometimes have one or two SD card slots.

The bit rate such as in 28 Mbps is the writing speed and not something to sweat over, the p in 1080p is for progressive which is better than 1080i for interlaced. Now on to the review of camcorders: Last year my number one choice of family camcorders for under 500 bucks was a Canon camcorder, the Canon HF R100 video camera, and it’s a Canon camcorder that takes top spot again this year:

Best Family Camcorders under $500

1. Canon VIXIA HF R21 Review 2011 Model

With a 32GB internal flash drive and 2 SDXC memory card slots you could record forever almost with the Canon VIXIA HF R21. Record for up to 12 hours with the internal flash memory before changing automatically with relay recording to external cards for another 12 hours with each 32GB SDHC card.

Click picture to watch Canon VIXIA HF R21 video

The Canon VIXIA HF R21 3 inch Touch Panel LCD screen and Smart Auto lets you check the action clearly and a genuine Canon HD video lens with 28x advanced zoom gets close to the action while dynamic IS stabilizes a wide range of movements for smooth, steady video.

A Canon DIGIC DV III image processor with Canon 3.28-megapixel FULL HD CMOS image sensor records your video at 24Mbps video in the highest bit rate in AVCHD.

Canon camcorders have gone the extra mile and over delivered with features previously found in Prosumer camcorders costing twice as much as this Canon VIXIA HF R21 2011 video camera model with a microphone terminal giving manual audio level control and a headphone terminal, focus assist, HD-to-SD down-conversion and much more.

UK readers note that Canon UK name their camcorder range the Canon Legria, not Vixia as in the US, and to complicate matters further when looking for direct camcorder comparisons, they have changed the name of the Canon VIXIA HF R21 as reviewed here to the R28. So for Canon VIXIA HF R21 in the US, please read Canon Legria HF R28 in the UK. Same Canon VIXIA HF R21 camcorders, different country!

2. JVC GZ-HM670BUS BUNDLE 2011

My second choice is the JVC GZ-HM670BUS video camera bundle because it’s  just $15 extra to the camcorder alone. Similar features to the Canon camcorder above with a 32GB built-in flash memory and just one SD card slot for SD/SDXC/SDHC/SD, a smaller 2.7″ “Frameless” Touch Panel LCD screen, 40x optical zoom and  Advanced Image Stabilizer, recording AVCHD & standard definition dual format with 24Mbps High bit rate recording.

The kit contains a useful 8GB SDHC Memory Card and wallet, Carrying Case w/Strap, a mini table top tripod, a pack of LCD Screen protectors and a lens and LCD Cleaning Kit.

3. Sony HDR-CX160 2011

Eight buyers of the Sony HDR-CX160 2011 camcorders have seen fit to write a camcorder review of their experience with the Sony CX160, and all 8 awarded video camera

Click picture to watch Sony HDR-CX160 video review

ratings of 5 stars out of 5! With 16GB of embedded flash memory for up to 6 hours of recording, a 3.0” Touch Plus LCD screen, 30x optical zoom & 42x Extended Zoom,

back-illuminated “Exmor R” CMOS sensor for superb low-light video, wide angle G lens, OIS with 3-Way shake-cancelling, built-in LED light and built-in USB 2.0 cable and intelligent auto with 90 different scene combinations, the Sony HDR-CX160 camcorder records 1920x1080p FULL HD video and 3MP still images.

4. Panasonic HDC-SD90K 3D 2011

Just like the Panasonic SD 10 video camera chosen as the number 3 best camcorder under $500 of last year, the Panasonic HDC-SD90K 3D camcorder records only to SDXC/SDHC/SD Memory Cards at 28 Mbps High bit rate, recording Full-HD 1920 x 1080p.

With a 3″ Touch LCD screen,  Intelligent 40x Zoom, Hybrid O.I.S. a 28mm wide-angle lens and a new zoom mic with wind noise canceller linked to the video camera zoom action the Panasonic HDC-SD90K has 2D & 3D video capture capability. Note that 3D video can only be recorded with the optional Panasonic VW-CLT1 3D camcorder lens costing almost $200.

5. Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3

If 3D video really floats your boat, you may like to check out the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3 camcorder which has a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 from 71 owner video camera reviews,  who can argue with impressive reviews such as these? Like the Panasonic HDC-SD90K 3D Panasonic HD camcorder above, the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3 video camera captures photos and video only to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included) with a dual 10-megapixel CCD and lens system which can be viewed instantly in 3D with no glasses

Click the Frog to watch Fujifilm FinePix real 3D W3 Video

required.

The 3.5-inch 1.15 million dot resolution widescreen auto stereoscopic LCD screen displays photos and video in 3D instantly through two 10-megapixel sensors and two Fujinon 3x optical zoom lenses. Auto or manual shutter speed and aperture for instant control in both 2D and 3D.

Best Family Camcorders under $500 Summary

The camcorder reviews of this selection are obviously only summaries, as all of these great  video cameras have many more features worth checking out, and you can read full information of these and over 200 more camcorders at http://www.uscamcorderreviews.com.

UK readers can do likewise at http://www.ukcamcorderreviews.co.uk. There are also video reviews of many camcorders on those sites, or from the Video Review Playlist goo.gl/rMMVh

Finally, if you are interested in making money from your camcorder, if you want free instruction on making special interest videos and how to market them, learn about video competitions with BIG PRIZE MONEY, upcoming video trade shows, 3D talk, latest news of big price drops on some camcorders, and information about the Institute of Videography, just enter your email address in the box of any page at US Camcorder Reviews or UK Camcorder reviews and receive full information.

Call back soon for more info about other camcorder brands, or better still, LIKE my Facebook page to be the first to know when I post my next review. THANK YOU.

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Tagged as: AVCHD, camcorder, camcorder reviews, camcorders, flash memory, video camera