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Our paranormal group was in dire need of a new Camcorder with IR capability and if possible, Full Spectrum capability. I was hesitant to start my search for several reasons. First, many pieces of paranormal equipment are expensive, and frankly, our experience has shown that quality is average to poor. Second, I have my reservations about spending a lot of money on something we can only use for paranormal investigations. We sometimes have periods of poor case loads so the equipment is sitting unused, and at some point, we may decide to retire from the hobby. That would leave us with a case of equipment we paid a lot of money for, but could not use.
With that in mind I started to look and search to see what was available. A search for IR Camcorder typically brought up the Bell and Howell model. This has full IR Capability with built in IR illumination. But the reviews were average at best due to focusing issues while using the IR mode. The average price for these models was around $250 US. Besides the Bell and Howell, there were a few slim models that appeared to be cheap and small. In my research I found that there used to be a great camcorder produced by Sony called the Night Shot and Super Night Shot. These are no longer made by Sony. These were and still are very popular camcorders. Sony produced a quality product, and with a little searching you can still find some on the secondary market as used/remanufactured etc. The prices are generally north of $300 if you can find one. I had reservations about spending $300 on up for a used camcorder with old technology. That was another issue I discovered during my search. Many older camcorders featured older technology. No HD, low resolution. Some Ghost Supply outlets are selling a more recent version of a Sony camcorder that is modified for all time IR use. These cannot ever be used as a regular camcorder, they are not High Def, and resolution is low, all for $340 US. I was not exactly happy with that, and was not jumping to buy anything.
I eventually found this camcorder here on Amazon. I was liking very much what I was reading. High Def, 1080P resolution, regular camcorder use, manual switching to or from IR and Full Spectrum. Two SD card slots, built in IR light, still shot capabilities and more. I was not familiar with this camcorder and the information here does not list the manufacturer. I Googled Cleveland Paranormal Supply and was able to review more information regarding the specifications on this camcorder. It had everything everyone was asking for but could not find and then some. I loved the idea that it was essentially a regular camcorder by day and a paranormal investigating tool by night. I could pick this unit up and run out to a friends wedding and record the happy event, then come home, swap the battery and head off into the night for some paranormal investigating. The next day I could grab the recorder again and head off to a birthday party and record just like with a regular camcorder, and that night be out again trolling for spirits in Full Spectrum. Also a consideration was what would happen if I decided to retire from paranormal investigating, no problem here, the camcorder can be used just like any regular camcorder so I did not end up with a $300 paper weight.
I still had questions, so I dropped Cliff the founder of Cleveland Paranormal Supply an e-mail and loaded it with questions. I wanted to know who made this camcorder, and how was the quality, and if it had a hot shoe for mounting an IR light. Cliff was very prompt in responding and answered all of my questions. The camcorder is made by a company named Ordro. This name is not familiar here in the US because they do not make camcorders for the US market, only Europe and Asia. We could not find out exactly if this was a company owned and operated by Samsung or Sony, but the few reviews I was able to find hinted at one of those two companies as the possible manufacturer. The camcorder was consistently compared to the old Sony Night Shot camcorders for functionality and reliability. The camcorder has all of the features that the old Sony Night Shot and Super Night Shot camcorders used to have but with lots of upgrades. I did find those few reviews were positive. I did see a place or two over in Europe who was selling these, and the price as right on the $200 mark plus or minus, so Cliff has a very fair price on these given that he needed to have them tweeked for the Full Spectrum feature.
This camcorder as described above is a regular camcorder, and can be used for regular every day events like birthdays, weddings etc. But just like the old Sony Night Shots you can manually remove the IR filter for IR video recording, and you can go one step farther and remove the Full Spectrum filter for total Full Spectrum video recording. It is done via the menu as opposed to having a physical switch like the old Sony models. It also features a built in IR light which is good enough to illuminate a small room such as a powder room or similar 10 X 10 or smaller room. The camcorder also features High Def, and 1080P which are both sought after improvements by paranormal investigators. It also records audio as your recording. Another fantastic feature with this camcorder is the ability to take high def digital still images. You can take a limited number of stills while video recording which is a great feature in case you spot something you can try to capture a still saving you the time of clipping it out of the video stream later. You can take as many still photos as your memory will hold while not recording video. Just aim, and press the photo button, it's that simple. You can fire off a dozen sharp stills in seconds. There is a nice sized viewing screen for you to use as your walking around in the dark, and of course to aim and shoot your video subjects. To turn the camcorder on, simply open the screen clam shell and she powers right up, close the screen clam shell and she powers down and reverts to normal mode from IR or Full Spectrum. Switching to IR or Full Spectrum is super easy. Touch the screen to activate the menu, swipe left or right until you see the IR options, and select. The IR filter is removed and the built in IR light is activated. To get to Full Spectrum, touch the screen again and enter the menu, swipe to the special color wheel options page and select the color wheel. The last filter is then removed and your in Full Spectrum mode.
The only short comings that I could find were the lack of an accessory shoe on the top of the unit. You will not be able to mount an extra IR light directly to the top of the camcorder. The camcorder has a tripod mounting hole on the bottom for attaching an accessory bracket or for mounting to a tripod. Some have said the built in IR light is weak. It is not the best, but no worse than the one used in the old Sony Night Shot or the current Bell and Howell. It is recommended that you buy the accessory bracket, and one of the two IR illuminator's that Cliff offers. He has a 50 foot range IR illuminator, and an 80 foot range IR Floodlight. Both mount right on the accessory bracket and use a 9V battery for operation so they are not eating up the camcorder battery. Cliff does offer a Full Spectrum illuminator, but be aware that it will fill the area with some visible light which may not be desirable in full black darkness situations during a paranormal investigation. The IR light contains enough of the Full Spectrum to be effective and will not emit any visible light at all. Something for consideration in the future by the people who design and build these illuminating devices, how about a light with Full Spectrum OR IR lighting capability in one unit?
We had an opportunity to use this camcorder this past weekend during a paranormal investigation. We had purchased the 80 foot IR Floodlight and accessory bracket from Cliff along with an extra battery. The camcorder comes in a soft storage case and has an external charger, one battery, and a set of different cables so you can hook the camcorder up to your TV or PC. So it is a complete package. The battery on a single charge is reported to last up to 2 or 3 hours of continuous recording. Sometimes our investigations run over that time so we purchased the extra battery. The battery will take about 2 1/2 hours to charge from dead using the external charger which can be used at your command center during an investigation, and while the camcorder is in use with your other battery. Hooking up the accessory bracket is simple and easy and mounting the IR Flood Light was a snap, just simple thumb screws for each. The camcorder is a little smaller in real life that what it looks like in the photo. It is light and compact. Its easy to carry around even with the accessory bracket and IR Flood Light attached. We used the Full Spectrum mode, and did a few video sessions, and snapped off a few photos while recording video then switched to camera only mode and fired off a few dozen still photos. Using the camera feature was super easy and I liked this feature a lot. My only gripe is that the record button is flush with the case of the camcorder on the back, and its very hard to feel for it in the dark so you can press record.
On reviewing the video footage I was super impressed at the clarity and quality of the video. Smooth clean crisp Full Spectrum video with no focusing issues. We recorded in a smaller area in a basement, and a larger area in a big attic, and the camcorder recorded high quality clear video. I also snapped off still photos. I did this both while recording video and with video recording off. I got good well lit clear digital photos all around. We took photo still in the basement area, and the attic which were the two extremes at this location and the images were well lit and clear. Very happy. The digital photo stills come out as JPG and the video as MP4 so you will not have to do any conversion of files. There is no internal memory in the camcorder. You will need to purchase SD cards. The camcorder has two slots for SD Cards, one for a standard SD Card and one for a mini-SD Card. We purchased two 32GB SD Cards and installed both. We should not ever have an issue with memory. To get your recordings and images off the camcorder is also a snap. You can use the USB cable that was supplied with the camcorder and hook directly to your PC, use the HDMI cable also supplied to hook up to your TV, or you can pop the SD Cards out and use the SD slots on your PC if you have them, and use windows explorer to grab them and paste them into a case folder on your hard drive.
Over all we are super pleased with this camcorder. It is versatile, it is loaded with features all paranormal groups want and need, the quality seems above average so far, and the price is right. The camcorder worked flawlessly and produced top quality video and stills in IR and Full Spectrum. The 80 foot IR Flood Light worked great and illuminated large rooms with no problem what so ever. At this time I have to highly recommend this unit for any paranormal group looking to upgrade or expand their equipment roster. It has all of the features you could ever ask for. Cliff has hit the ball out of the park with this high quality versatile camcorder at an excellent mid range price. Now if he can come up with a nice quality IR/Full Spectrum digital camera that can be used for regular picture taking during the day at a reasonable price, we would definitely be buyers. We'll be putting the camcorder to the test again in two weeks and again in four weeks. We'll post back if anything changes.
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