Video camera recommendations?

[Andy1845c]

Does anyone here have any advice on what to look for in a video camera? My wife wants one. I'm not really up to date on them at all. The last one I had was a circa 1985 model that weighed about 40 pounds.

We don't need anything super fancy. Just somthing affordable to take on trips and what not.

Somthing that records on a disc would be nice. We don't have a DVD burner. I see alot of digital types on ebay.

Anyone have one they love or one they want to warn me to stay away from?

 

[Hank Fletcher]

I'm really happy with the digital camera (Canon Powershot, 2006 model) I have. It's for photographs mainly, but with a 2GB card it can take up to an hour of high quality video with audio. It's easily on par with the quality you'd get from a ten-year-old video cassette camera, and within my budget at less than $200 (plus a bit for the memory cards).

When I run out of space on a card, I usually make an archiving decision and upload the videos I don't need to carry around with me onto my computer for safe keeping. You could do the same with a digital HD video camera or a photo camera like mine. What you want to think about is what format storing and sharing your videos will work best for you.

It can be expensive using memory cards to permanently store your videos. If storing your videos in a format that's easy to share and view with neighbours and family, you might consider getting a DVD burner. They're cheap enough now that they won't break the bank, and it really is convenient and fun to pop a video into your standard DVD player, relax on the couch, and watch your vacation clips.

But perhaps you share videos over the Internet more than you would on something like a DVD, anyway. Most video and photo cameras sold now come with RCA video and audio output, and considering that most newer TVs also have easy accessible auxilliary video and audio inputs, it can be really easy to connect your camera directly to your TV to review your videos or photos.

I like to keep my favourite videos on the memory card in my camera, and even doing that I still have plenty of room to take impromptu videos when I go out somewhere. If a video makes the cut, it stays on the camera for easy sharing. If it's something I really want to keep or otherwise warrants removing and archiving, I download it to the computer.

How you and your wife want to share the videos you take should be a big factor in your decision on what kind of product to go with. If your wife doesn't feel comfortable using the computer, you might want to work out how you would burn DVDs for her after she's taken her videos. Or maybe she might be comfortable with learning how to connect a digital camera to the TV.

 

[HiTech]

A general rule of thumb is if a camera actually uses a glass lens assy. then the remainder of it is likely quality to follow. Many cameras today use polycarbonate lenses. Canon has always been a top brand for Consumer and prosumer goods.

 

[Hank Fletcher]

Here's a camera more along the lines of what you were asking about:
**broken link removed**
and here's a review of the same:
**broken link removed**
Like I said, I'm happy with my Canon. Lately, I've avoided Sony products, because I find that their attempts to make every aspect of media involvement a part of their own proprietary software a gross infringement of my consumer rights. I wouldn't mind so much if only the Sony software worked and/or was even available! My MD recorder was the last Sony product I'll buy for a long time. For someone like myself who doesn't even get very adventurous in my media involvement it was frustrating. For those that are more involved enthusiasts, I know that Sony's driven them 'round the bend!

Anyway, back to the Canon DVD camcorder for second. Notice in the review what it says about using it for taking photo stills. If taking photos is also important to you, and you expect that you might be in the market for a digital photo camera in the near future, you might consider another product. It is entirely reasonable to expect a video camcorder to take great stills, although you might have to pay a little more than this particular Canon. But if stills aren't important, then you might as well save with this camera.

Note what the review also says about video editing and camera output. Sure, it has the DVD burner you wanted, but with no digital output, all your editing will have to be done actually on the camera. Is squinting at a small LCD screen something you're prepared to do during the editing process?

 

[Hank Fletcher]

For a little bit extra, there are hybrid DVD/HD cameras like this one:
**broken link removed**
The fact that it has a good rating and a lot of reviews tells me it's probably a pretty good product, and it's only a little more than the Canon camcorder I mentioned earlier. Not a bad way to hedge your bets, if you ask me.

 

[Krumlink]

I would be on the look out for digital video cameras that record data on a mini DVD disk. They probably make Rewriteable DVD's for them too. I was given a 20+ pound 1990 year vid camera that would record directly to full sized VHS. I use it to debug IR signals

IR IS SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND TOO

 

[Andy1845c]

Thanks for the replys so far.

That DVD/HD looks pretty sweet, but is a bit more then I want to spend.

The problem I have with digital media is my PC is getting pretty old now, and would likly need to be upgraded to really work with any video editing or DVD burning. But maybe its time to look into that also.

 

[stevez]

I just bought a Kodak V1253 - only reason for that brand/model (I used to work for Kodak) is that my son has it and we can share "how-to" and things like that. It has the video feature and I like it. Have not used it much but having the video feature allowed me to capture stuff that I am just not fast enough to otherwise. Got excellent videos of winter carnival fireworks. Stopped by a nature center and the otters were in constant motion - the software is supposed to allow me to capture images - I'll soon see how good that is.

Current challenge - will post separately -how to convert the .mov file that the camera creates to a .wmv that my Zune will play.

 

[Hank Fletcher]

It has the video feature and I like it. Have not used it much but having the video feature allowed me to capture stuff that I am just not fast enough to otherwise.

This reminded me of something cool you can do with a digital camera. I've taken some great videos from airplane windows with mine. There's a lot more to see than what you can usually see out of those little windows! With the camera, you can angle to get better views, especially of take-offs and landings. Even if you don't take a video, you can still use the camera's LCD screen as a kind of periscope to watch what's going on. Real fun!

 

[HarveyH42]

I just bought a Panasonic Lumix LZ7 about a month ago, and seems to be a good buy at $179 (probably a better price online). Haven't tried everything, but takes great pictures and video with sound. Has 6X optical zoom, and goes up to 36X digitally with good results. Bummer is that you can't change the zoom while recording video. Stablization is great too, very few blurry shots.

I use Sonic Foundry for video editing and conversion to and from most formats. Not sure how much it costs (came on my hard drive, second hand computer), but runs on my pentium 1.73 GHz/1.5 GByte computer just fine. Had it since 2002...

 

[stevez]

Yes, you can get shots not otherwise possible. On dog sled ride I held the camera well above my head while rotating it around once. Got a nice shot of the sled driver - thankfully he didn't mind at all. The resulting video captured the event quite nicely.

 

[Thunderchild]

for any editing purposes you might like to try the free www.virtualdub.org its good for going from one format to another but it won't read propriety formats like ASF because the makers won't let him add support (he put it in and they ordered he remove it for copyright infringment ahh the beauty of micro$oft propriety they even tell you what you can and can't do with your own data)