Camcorder on your trip?

[sara74]

We have an old camcorder that works (sometimes) and I would love a new one. DH thinks we won't use it on our trip to WDW as we will be too busy with the kids and the digital camera. We have found that we use our still camera tons and we do a lot with the pictures but I still think I would miss having a camcorder on our trip.

Do you all bring yours with you? Has anyone found that they didn't really use it and just lugged it around all day? We will have our stroller, but also a diaper bag, some snacks/water etc so space will be a premium. Can you all help me convince DH to buy a new camcorder before our trip?

 

[staci]

TAKE IT! If the old one doesnt work, replace it. This is coming from one of the poorest and cheapest people on these boards . Our tape is a treasure around this house.

I know we have a video from each one of my trips as a child, and I feel the same way about those. It is magical to watch as the years go by. My dad has actually compiled a dvd with special moments from each trip all on one dvd so in 30-45 minutes you can see all 4 trips we took as 'kids'.

It can be a pain to have it out, but just 10 minutes of tape from each day is invaluable. DS just watched ours last weekend from our trip when he was 23 months old. We have a little over an hour of tape, and he watched the whole thing begining to end.

It is a way to stretch the magic beyond the week of your trip so that you can enjoy your children's first trip forever.

 

[Soccerpooh]

TAKE IT!! If you are going to buy a new one, the digital ones on the market now are very small- our new one fits in the palm of my DH's hand! We always take ours. We record at least 4 hours worth on a 5 day trip. You can tape shows, like Playhouse Disney, Fantasmic, etc.- our kids love to watch themselves and the show, parades, etc when we get home. Not to mention getting to record their excitement when they see characters, or when they get off a ride, etc. We love our camcorder!!
If you end up buying a new one, the digital ones are a fun grown up toy. DH loves to play with it, editing and adding music, adding special effects. They were suprisingly affordable when we bought ours. It is great to have at home too, recording all the "firsts", the great goals the boys score in soccer, etc. If you need info on them, there is a great website- steves-digicams.com. It has great reviews and awesome links to great prices on the internet. Hope you can talk you DH into a new one- it is one of purchases that is worth every penny years from now. GOOD LUCK!

 

[we3disneygo]

take it !!! you will use it, last trip we let dd10 use it and she had a blast !! you will want tape of your trip and it's really not that much of a hassle !!!!

 

[WAHMto5]

We use ours every time! This past trip we purchased a new one that we love!! It is very small and takes still digitals also! It even comes with a fanny pack to carry it in if needed. I wouldn't go without it!

 

[B9erSteve]

Get a new one. The mini DV's have really come down in price and are easily transported. I love my tape of our early Disneyland trips. I got lax about taking my camcorder because it was large and spent a lot of time in the locker. But my new camcorder is small enough to fit in a fannypack or large pocket.

Some tips: Check out the camcorder completely! Check the On/OFF switch. The one I got switches too easily as a result, I'll go to take a video and find that my battery is dead because it got switched on by accident. Check out and buy extra batteries. The model I got did not have any long lasting batteries avail. As a result, if the battery was not killed by the aforementioned goof, then it will usually be dead anyway because of short battery life. If I'd have just spent $50 more I would have had neither of these problems. I'll be replacing it before our next trip.

BTW does anyone wanna buy a crappy camcorder?

 

[sara74]

Thanks for the quick responses. Dh is a gadget guy so he is really just giving me a hard time right now about the camcorder but I should be able to talk him into it now! Our current one thinks that it doesn't have a tape in it when it does and sometimes won't snap out of it! And we are big into the digital still photography - making slide shows set to music and bound photo books for the grandparents so I know he will enjoy a digital camcorder if I can talk him into it. I guess it depends on what the accountant has to say about our taxes....