So, I did a little research online, asked some friends, and tried to figure out what we were going to do. I realize that our industry, RVs, isn’t the most popular online (meaning I’m not expecting to get millions of views for a RV financing information video) but we get quite a bit of traffic, so decided to give it a try.

I personally own an Aiptek A-HD+ 1080p Pocket Camcorder already, so I tried filming some segments with it. The problem I had was, even in a “quiet” small room with the computers off, I was getting tons of static noise in the video. I realized that I needed a camcorder with an external mic jack that worked well.

I didn’t want to spend a fortune, since I have know idea how to produce a video, so this would be a trial run. So, after a couple of hours searching various forums and shops online, I found that most people preferred the Kodak Zi8 1080p Pocket Camcorder, because it produces excellent quality 1080p video (h.264 with a mov wrapper) AND has a built in external mic jack. The mic jack is only mono, but for the videos we’re planning, that’s fine. What’s even better is it’s under $200 (at least when I bought it, it was)…great! Oh…there’s even an HDMI jack on the camera, AND an HDMI cable is included in the box!

I ordered one from Amazon, and was able to find a remote (yes, it even supports a wireless remote control!) on the Kodak site (sort of weird that was the ONLY place I could buy one online…at least that I could find), and an Audio-Technica ATR-35S Lavalier Mic on Amazon.

I played with the camcorder after charging it for a couple of hours and I have to say, the video looks incredible on our Sony Bravia 46″ LCD HDTV. I shot at all the resolutions (1080p 30fps, 720p 60fps, 720 30fps, and WVGA 848×480 30fps) and I think I like the 1080p quality the best.

The only downside to shooting in HD, I think, is my computer isn’t quite powerful enough to preview the playback at full speed while editing. Good thing is, I can still listen to the audio in real time, so cuts aren’t that hard to make. I have decided, after posting several HD videos on YouTube, to post dvd quality (720×480 or so) videos to youtube, because they load much faster than HD.