Video camera reccomendations?

[silverbear]

I've been thinking about getting a camera good for taking bike videos, taking along on fishing trips and that sort of thing. As always I'm on a tight budget, so price is a major consideration. This summer I'd like to work on a couple of bike videos as a kind of art project, trying to do a good job of it. As a young man I was interested in and taught film making, so I would like to do something nice showing a ride through the forest of northeastern Minnesota.
It must have a tripod mounting plate, which I assume most or all do. I want one with a remote microphone jack so that I can use a windscreen filter to cut out most of the wind noise. A jack for remote on off would be good, too. I don't care about low light capability or fancy features. Decent battery run time would be good. I need to be able to edit the footage either with bundled software or something else in freeware. I want videos easy on the eyes and ears. Any suggestions?
SB

 

[scotto-]

Well Silverbear, if money was no object I'd say to get the Go-Pro as it is awesome. Actually I remember seeing one model at Costco for just over $100 which isn't too expensive but I'd think your best bet would be a used camera that is video capable off of Craig's list. I highly recommend Canon's and anything over 10 megapixels would serve you well. Happy hunting

 

[Nashville Kat]

Good luck with the external mic jack- harder to find as the cameras got smaller- but a great feature-

my fist video camera 25 years ago- a docking deck- had both audio and video insert editing- but that was before computer editing-
I got one of these $25 china things on ebay- I think they're a little more now- takes decent video but the audio is not so great in mine- not sure that's normal- but best $25 value going.

Heres stuff I shot with it:
YouTube - harponercam's Channel

got a better cam since, but stilll take the other EVERYWHERE- and it runs on AAA batteries.

also got a cheap "sunglass cam" on ebay from china- takes ok video on micro SD card- still testing- hope to post some vid MB on youtube soon. Been tired and ill.

heres my youtube channel:
YouTube - harponercam's Channel

 

[scotto-]

My answer to a remote mic jack is turn the sound off while viewing as I've tried covering every external orifice on my camera and the sound of the wind still shines through. I've covered the mic hole directly with tape to no avail. Good luck in finding a cam with that feature.

 

[silverbear]

Thank you both for responding. I think you're right about the external mic jack. The wind sounds are a real distraction. I suppose a person could shut off the sound and use a different recording device for the sound track. That way you could have some control over wind noise with a wind screen, but this complicates things, doesn't it? Sigh. Nothing is ever as simple as I want it to be. Still looking for a camera...
SB