Best camcorder for WDW

[B&J]

Please let me know what camcorder you use to video tape at WDW. We have a Sony HDR-SR12, but we are having trouble with the autofocus. The night shows (Fantasmic, fireworks, Electrical parade) all were for the most part out of focus. When we bought the camcorder from the Future Shop, it was a display model, so I'm wondering if we purchased a lemon. We've asked how to fix it, but with little to no success. We were even told that when the autofocus doesn't work, there is no way to fix it. If anyone lives in the London, Ontario area, do you know of a good place that repairs camcorders? Thanks in advance to all who respond.

 

[scboyd]

I would contact Sony Canada and get their opinion. I've had a similar situation with a canon video camera (auto-focus would focus) and I had to ship it out but it was just dirty and they cleaned at it has worked wonderful for the last 3 years.

 

[tgropp]

I have a Sony SR10, sounds like a model lower than yours. I also have trouble getting the proper focus when you go from light areas to dark areas. Daytime videos are amazing with the hi-def but I am not happy with the night time videos, even with lots of light.

 

[Corbisblue]

I have the Kodak Playsport that I've used with all my Disney Trips last year. The video quality is outstanding even with night videos.

It's relatively cheap and it's tiny. Super easy to hold and the battery life will last you a full day of recording in the parks. You can put in whatever size of SD card you want as well.

The only downside is that it doesn't have optical zoom, only digital. But I found that I didn't need to use the zoom at all.

If you want to see the video quality, just check out my trip reports in my signature there. All the videos I took were with this camera. I only took up to 720p video to improve battery life and you won't really notice the difference between that and 1080p in vacation videos.