Anyone know anything about camcorders?

[ruthie]

Hi All
I usually take our camcorder to Orlando, it's the mini dv type with tapes. I generally do a bit of filming, probably no more than 2 hours in total, of the usual bits.
I hadn't planned to get a new camcorder but I keep seeing the very small ones being advertised for around £100. Are these any good? Would they be any use for me? Would I also need to take my laptop?
Any thoughts or help I would be grateful for.

Thanks

 

[orangetiggs]

if its a sd card one you could either take a laptop to upload it or get several sd cards

we have one with a built in hard drive like the laptop and holds around 80 hours on it

my mum has a mini sanyo one and its really good, fits in her handbag!!

 

[misscrossbee]

I took my Sanyo Xacti on our last trip - it's so small that it fits in the front pocket of your jeans.

Didn't use it much, but what I did film on it came out very good quality. It has a hard drive and takes SD cards, so you don't necessarily need to take a laptop.

 

[orangetiggs]

that sanyo camcorder is the one mum has got and its really nice

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

We've just bought a FLIP ULTRA HD and we love it.
It's about the size of a small compact camera so easily fits in your pocket. It records to a fixed hard drive and holds up to 2 hours of recording in full HD. It charges via an inbuilt USB point which you use to charge it via your laptop or as we did buy an external mains charger. You just download the video to your laptop. The reason we bought this particular model was that as well as taking standard AAA batteries it also takes rechargeable FLIP batteries, so we bought an additional FLIP battery so we could carry a spare battery into the parks. It really is very easy to use with one big red button and a couple of arrow keys to adjust volume, zoom, view playback etc.
Sorry to go on a bit but hope all the information is of some help.

 

[ruthie]

Hi

Thanks for all your helpful replies, I think I might get one of the small ones.
I sure it will be an improvement on our old one.


Ruthie

 

[2Tiggies]

We've just bought a FLIP ULTRA HD and we love it.
It's about the size of a small compact camera so easily fits in your pocket. It records to a fixed hard drive and holds up to 2 hours of recording in full HD. It charges via an inbuilt USB point which you use to charge it via your laptop or as we did buy an external mains charger. You just download the video to your laptop. The reason we bought this particular model was that as well as taking standard AAA batteries it also takes rechargeable FLIP batteries, so we bought an additional FLIP battery so we could carry a spare battery into the parks. It really is very easy to use with one big red button and a couple of arrow keys to adjust volume, zoom, view playback etc.
Sorry to go on a bit but hope all the information is of some help.

What is a FLIP battery? Is that one of the lithium rechargeables?

I am fed up with AA and AAA rechargeables and last year when I bought a compact camera as an extra for portability I specifically chose one with a lithium batter because no matter how much I put out on high capacity rechargables, my better camera just chomps the power.

When Ruthie asked about the camcorders in the original post, she mentioned ones for £100. I know you are all talking about compacts, but I would normally ignore something like that at £100 assuming it is inferior ..... or am I out of date with this?

 

[kristieuk]

I think it is these type of cameras (see the first few). Our trusted Sony is playing up in that the lense cover won't open fully. I don't know how much it would cost to repair but DH suggested one of the newer smaller and cheaper versions. Much easier to carry around, and the reviews they get are excellent. Interested to see what everyone here thinks as I don't want to be disappointed.

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

What is a FLIP battery? Is that one of the lithium rechargeables?

I am fed up with AA and AAA rechargeables and last year when I bought a compact camera as an extra for portability I specifically chose one with a lithium batter because no matter how much I put out on high capacity rechargables, my better camera just chomps the power.

When Ruthie asked about the camcorders in the original post, she mentioned ones for £100. I know you are all talking about compacts, but I would normally ignore something like that at £100 assuming it is inferior ..... or am I out of date with this?

A FLIP battery is the battery specifically made to go into a FLIP mini video camera

 

[gemmybear83]

I took my Sanyo Xacti on our last trip - it's so small that it fits in the front pocket of your jeans.

Didn't use it much, but what I did film on it came out very good quality. It has a hard drive and takes SD cards, so you don't necessarily need to take a laptop.

We just bought one of these for our next holiday was only £97 in asda, I love it especially as it's a great digital camera too!

 

[torsie24]

We have a Flip video, and we love it.

We aren't big video-ers (?!?) but it's perfect for our needs.

Here are a couple of our DLRP videos we took with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP8cwcMDQs0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J9w-rBC1v8

I think for under £100 its fab!

 

[torsie24]

Oooh, and yes, you do need a laptop with you to unload the videos to as it'll store up to an hour.

 

[2Tiggies]

We just bought one of these for our next holiday was only £97 in asda, I love it especially as it's a great digital camera too!

I like the fact that it takes SD cards. Still undecided on whether to take my laptop with me, although it may be a wise idea to do so. (Also considering getting a netbook instead so less to lug around on my shoulder at the airport).

The toss-up for me is whether to get something small and simple or to rather put out for something that costs more. I do like the option of an optical zoom. But then, aside from holidays, how often will I actually use it?! Oh, decisions!!! Then to further complicate things, I have always used my camera which takes really good quality video footage ...