What Camera Camcorder do I buy?

[Whettestone]

I need to buy a camcorder.

1 - It has to have an external microphone jack.

2 - It has to have a screen that I can turn so the person being recorded can see himself (or at least be able to hook it to a monitor or TV to see what is being filmed.

3 - It has to have a remote so you don't have to keep running behind the camera to shut it on and off.

I have about $100 and rising and good at shopping on Ebay. I also have an editing program with green screen capabilities and I aim to use it, so I want high Megapixels too.

I'm looking at the Aiptek Action GVS (remote, external mic and flip screen) or the Kodak Zi8 (remote, external mic, but NO flip screen). I did read some articles about wiring up a mic jack to the built-in microphone on cheaper cameras, but I'm afraid to do that without frying it.

Anyway, which camera do I try to find that has these features? $100 is what I have right now, and slowly going up.

 

[Whettestone]

Nobody here owns a Camera?

 

[Whettestone]

Never mind. I bought a Kodak Zi8. Thanks for your help guys, you were a great assistance.

 

[TheSeeker]

You're welcome.

 

[Whettestone]

Funny.

 

[TheSeeker]

I was just responding in kind.

Seriously though, I would have replied but your $100 limit didn't give us much room to play with.

 

[Whettestone]

Seriously though, I would have replied but your $100 limit didn't give us much room to play with.

I got the Kodak Zi8 for $90, including the 8BG SD Card.

 

[spinnerlys]

I need to buy a camcorder.
I also have an editing program with green screen capabilities and I aim to use it, so I want high Megapixels too.

I presume that application is some shareware title or cheap software (compared to a 1000€ editing suite like Final Cut Studio or 2500€ for Avid MC), but the number of megapixels does not help in keying out a green screen. It is the compression the camera uses and how it does store the footage, that will determine the quality of the key.
That camera you bought has a very, very small lens and CMOS sensor and uses a highly compressive and lossy codec called H264 (an MPEG-4 codec), therefore don't expect any great results with keying the green.

And I personally won't call that Kodak even a camcorder, but if it does suffice your needs, which will be for home use I suppose and not for making money or university, then have a good time with it.

Btw, which application do you use to edit?

 

[Whettestone]

Btw, which application do you use to edit?

Corel VideoStudio 12.

The Kodak Zi8 has an external microphone. Apparently it's one of the few low priced cameras that does.