Night Vision Camcorders for Legend Tripping

Hey Legend Trippers, I got some bad news and and some good news. The bad news is I broke my little night vision camera. I don't know what I did, but I can't get it to work. So now I need to get a new one. When it comes to every legend trip, you got to have a camera or camcorder and you need a good one. If you purchase a cheap one and it breaks half way through your trip,then there goes all those great pictures and memories. I'm not saying you have to spend a lot on a camera, but you get what you pay for. If you do want a good quality camcorder, then check out online bidding sites and check them out before buying an expensive brand new one.
The good news is I found an article by a paranormal group out of New York called Shadow Chasers. Now only do they have a cool name, but they do their homework when it comes to Ghost hunting equipment. They wrote in opinion the best article on what to look for in a camcorder, especially one that has night vision. Now I'm just going to show you the article, but again I didn't write this. 

Shadow Chasers wrote:

When it comes to ghost hunting, the most fundamental piece of technology is that of IR camcorders. Regardless of whether a team utilizes CTS cameras or just relies on a multitude of camcorders on tripods, if you're shooting under low lighting conditions you need an infrared camcorder.

Over the years we've encountered a number of very ambitious people that have created their own gear out of components, and modifying readily available equipment. Now, some of these people are pretty outstanding and create some very intriguing pieces of ghost hunting equipment like the 'Tri-Field Audio-Visual Recorder" but the fact of the matter is that if you want to shoot at night you will need an actual camcorder.

The advantage of selecting a genuine camcorder with night shot, (another term for night vision) or IR capabilities means it does not have to be restricted to just ghost hunting work or night time shooting. You can actually take the camera to your daughter's play and have a good video to show for it. (Providing you choose wisely).

Budget Camcorders with IR

These cameras are commonly sold by ghost hunting outfitters and are often cheap, flimsy and are poor quality recording. You can purchase the Vivitar camcorders in most toy stores to give you an idea the quality.  Prices range from $39.99 - 159.99

Vivitar DVR 510n - 5.1 MP - supported memory: SD, SDHC - flash card -[Review...]

Vivitar DVR 560 -  5.1 MP - supported memory: SD, SDHC - flash card

Bell & Howell DNV 900HD - 1080p Full HD Camcorder that can capture 20 hours of video (based on card).

Personally, I wouldn't purchase any of this camcorders if I was on a  serious Legend Trip, but if you have young children and you want them to feel part of the team, then these camcorders might be just the thing.

Older Budget Camcorders with IR

These camcorders are becoming harder to find but are some of the best camcorders to use for any low-light work and can still be found on Amazon or eBay. These are former high-end consumer camcorders. Prices range from $100.00 - 500.00

Sony DCR SR 40 - 30GB hard disk drive, high-quality stills and videos.

Sony DCR SR 42 - 30GB hard disk drive, high-quality stills and videos.

Sony DCR SR 60 - 30GB hard disk drive, high-quality stills and videos.  [Review...]

Sony DCR SR 82 - 60 GB hard disk drive, 40 hours of video and stills.

 

This are good quality camcorders.

Best Consumer IR Camcorders

These night vision camcorders are the best available consumer camcorders with infrared capabilities, often night shot (night vision) or 'twilight' shooting modes. Prices range from $299.00 - 799.00

 

Sony HDR - CX 190 - 1920x1080 Full HD video and 5.3 MP pictures with back-illuminated Exmor CMOS sensor. This is one of the confirmed camcorders used by Ghost Adventures as a 'Static X Camera.' 

Sony HDR - XR 260V - 1920 x 1080 Full HD and 8.9 MP pictures, 60p recording and playback - This is the new model used by Ghost Adventures for the 2012 season. 

Canon VIXIA HFR 300 - 1920 x 1080 Full HD, 24p and 30p record modes, flash memory 

Canon VIXIA HFR 32 - 1920 x 1080 Full HD, 24p and 30p record modes, flash memory 

Panasonic HDC TM80 - 1920 x 1080 Full HD, OIS, and IRT Tech Canon - LEGRIA HF G10 - 1920 x 1080 Full HD, HD and Flash Memory, High optical resolution, 1.5lux  

Best Professional IR Camcorders

 These night vision camcorders are very high-end producing the best results and are frequently used in video production by the larger televised ghost hunters including Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters international, Haunted Collector and Ghost Adventures. While these cameras are outstanding they also reflect the prosumer price level and are not typically within a normal person's budget. These range in price from $2500 and up. If you find that you and the family are really getting into your legend trip and you do have the money, then go for it.

 

Canon XF 100 - Professional Camcorder with all professional features, records to flash memory

Canon XA10 - These camcorders allow the  user to record up to 24 hours of clear high definition video to a 64GB internal flash drive or to two SDXC-compatible memory slots. With Relay Recording, the camcorder automatically switches video recording from the internal drive to the SD memory cards when the memory becomes full. This Camcorder is currently used on "Haunted Collector" to film the night vision segments.

Panasonic AG DVC 30 - 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder with 60i and 30p modes, this camera was used to record the first two seasons of 'Ghost Hunters' before the switch to the HMC40 and subsequent switch to modified camcorders in recent seasons.

Pansonic AVCCAM HMC40 - 3CMOS Camcorder with AVCHD recording. The upgrade of the DVC30, the HMC40 was used to record several seasons of Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy and Ghost Hunters International before being replaced by modified variants. 

http://www.nyshadowchasers.com/blog/2012/6/14/the-best-night-vision-camcorders.html

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