Need "budget" videocamera

[crazyforgoofy]

We've decided to buy a videocamera and want to have it in time for our trip next month (!) to WDW.

Here are my thoughts:

I can't afford to spend a fortune for a top of the line one with a disk, etc. but want one that will last and won't be out of date by next year.

Needs to be small enough to be easily packed and carried.

Would like one that will take pictures in fairly low light and with a reasonable amount of zoom.

Pretty sure I want one with a flip out side viewscreen.

What do you think of Sony videocams? I've been happy with most other Sony products.

Any suggestions of brand, features, etc. would be much appreciated. I really don't know much about the subject and would love some Dis Budget Board recommendations.

Thanks in advance.
crazyforgoofy

 

[twoksmom]

We just bought one last month. It is a Sony videocam.It's a hi8. We love it. It was only 299. Plus I got 10% employee discount. So that helped. It has a good zoom and low light. It's a trv328. I checked it out and it had good reviews. Hope this helps. April

 

[Minnie's Mate]

I did a lot of research before buying mine in January.

I decided on a Canon Elura 50. Then I did a search on Pricefinder and a couple of other price search engines and bought it from Willoughbys.com. They weren't the cheapest, but they were the lowest price with the highest rating. I called and ordered it by phone to make sure it wasn't gray market or black market and wasn't a refurb. It wasn't either.

I ordered it on a Sunday and it arrived in a factory sealed box on Thursday. Took it to WDW in Feb and am very satisfied.

Whatever brand you get, purchase a long life/charge battery. Mine will go dead after about 20 minutes. Also, get a wide angle lens if you can get a good deal so you can get all of the characters and children in the shot from the table at character meals. Both the extended battery and the wide angle lens should be available really cheap on e-bay. I plan to get both before our June trip.

 

[geniegirl]

REALLY DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH IS YOU BUDGET IS. SONY WAS A BIT TOO HIGH FOR US - WE WANTED MINI DIGITAL. SONY'S STARTED OUT $575.00 I THING.

I GOT A GREAT PANOSONIC DIG CAM FOR $440.00 DID NOT GET A CARD SINCE I WONT BE USING IT AS A CAMERA ONLY VIDEO BUT IT DOES HAVE A SLOT. IT IS REALLY TINY NO WIDER THEN THE PALM OF MY HAND. ONLY THING I DO NOT LIKE IT THAT I HAVE TO TAKE THE BAT OFF TO CHARGE IT OUR OLD CAMERA HAD A PLUG TO CHARGE IT WHILE STILL ON THE CAMERA.

CHECK OUT BEST BUY THEY OFFER 12 SAME AS CASH

 

[kild]

I bought a Sony Hi8 a couple of months ago. Sticker for it was 299, but I got it for 250 because of a sale. It has the side view screen, nightvision, steadyshot and tons of other things. We have not had any problems. The battery it came with lasts almost 2 hours with the viewfinder and 1 hour using the screen.

Before this, we had a regular 8mm sony that lasted for 8 years without 1 problem. Sony is the way to go.

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Thank you for your thoughts.

twoksmom, you got a great price. I'll read up on that model.

Minnie's Mate, I'll research the Canon. And thanks so much for the info on battery life and a wide angle lens.

geniegirl, I may not spend the extra for a mini digital. It's just not in my budget. Your camera sounds wonderful.

kild, sounds like yours has the features I want. Does it weight much?

 

[Minnie's Mate]

Glad to help out. Hope the info was usefull. The things I like about the Canon Elura are: light weight (14 oz.) compact size (fits in my waist pack with my digital camera and other small items), the Canon optics, and it has a 2.5 inch monitor on the side.

 

[buckeye]

I don't know what your budget is, but I needed an inexpensive one for work and got one at Sam's for around $180. It's a Sharp and has worked out very well for me. It's a hi8, with a flip out viewing screen. Easy to learn to work. I carry it in a lunchbox, so it's not real big.

Good luck in your search.

 

[normr]

I work for Apple Computer part time and here is a great tip if you have an Apple Store near you, ( don't worry any of the video cameras they sell will also work with Windows based PC's too)

Anyway, go into the store and ask if they have any refreshed or demo video camera's, a refreshed unit is one that was purchased by someone and returned within 10 days, it is checked out completely and reboxed, and then marked down and resold, it carries the FULL warranty, I've sold many cameras to many of my coworkers here at my full time job because they were such a great deal., the longer they sit in the store then they even get sold at a monthly fire sale price, I've seen some great deals as low as $149 at times for a mini-dv video camera, with mini dv, you can hook them up to many computers if you have firewire or also called ilink or 1394 ports on your computer and edit the video and burn onto CD (All Macs come with this capability and many also have DVD burners to burn onto DVD)

and another choice is demo units, these also can be a great deal, when we get newer models the older model is then marked down and resold as a demo unit, and also carry a full warranty, they may have a slight cosmetic problems or occasionally be missing an item like a battery or cable, but the price can't be beat. Right now at my store we had 3-4 video cameras at great prices like I've described.