Will we regret not bringing the video camera?

[princesslover]

Let me be clear. I want to bring it. DH is fighting me on it. He thinks it's going to be too cumbersome to deal with. The camera itself is not too awfully big, but the case is sort of bulky. It won't fit into any of our luggage so we'd have to carry it on.

My camera does video. It's not super high quality, but it's okay. I have tons of memory to do video from my camera.

While I don't think we'd use it in the parks - I can see us wanting it for some of the princess meals and shows. I'm just wondering if people get by with just using their regular camera for these things? If not, help me convince him before our trip next week please!!

As a side question.. In case we don't end up taking it, I'm wondering if I can transfer video from my memory card in my camera to DVD, so that we can watch it like a regular video? Is that even possible?

 

[KellyNY]

Let me be clear. I want to bring it. DH is fighting me on it. He thinks it's going to be too cumbersome to deal with. The camera itself is not too awfully big, but the case is sort of bulky. It won't fit into any of our luggage so we'd have to carry it on.

My camera does video. It's not super high quality, but it's okay. I have tons of memory to do video from my camera.

While I don't think we'd use it in the parks - I can see us wanting it for some of the princess meals and shows. I'm just wondering if people get by with just using their regular camera for these things? If not, help me convince him before our trip next week please!!

As a side question.. In case we don't end up taking it, I'm wondering if I can transfer video from my memory card in my camera to DVD, so that we can watch it like a regular video? Is that even possible?

I took mine on early trips, but it was pretty uncomfortable and I also missed a lot by filming reather then looking around. We also had it in carry on, simply because it was expensive one back then. I do not take it anymore but if I get a small one one day, I might, just to film something not everything.

 

[Pecobill]

I'm going to agree with your husband on this.Camcorders are really bulky and annoying to bring not to mention a lot of rides you can't record on without the light which isnt allowed.

The camera should suffice for the few videos you may or may not take but I can guarantee you that you'll be taking a bunch of pictures.

As for transfering videos simply put them onto your computer and burn them to a dvd.

 

[ktlm]

If it's your first trip and if you have young kids, I think you will regret not taking the video camera. We took DD at 2 yrs 10 months and again at 3. I really like watching the video of her meeting the characters, especially when she was doing it for the 1st time. Her 2nd trip at Block Party Bash at DHS, a wonderful CM pulled her out and danced with her the entire time the Toy Story float was stopped in front of us. It is a great video to have. As far as the shows and parades, we did tape some, but you can find most of them on you tube anyway if you really want to watch them again. DD does love pulling out the parade videos though.

 

[henry72]

When we went with DS at 19 months, we didn't take a video camera and just used the one on our regular camera. It worked out alright. But of course the quality is not as good as a real video camera. We just got a NEW video camera - which of course is really small - even compared to our older video camera. So we are going to take it. I don't know that I will bring it everyday to the parks but I am looking forward to bringing it to MK and AK. It has a great zoom! If I had a bulkier video camera, then I wouldn't be taking it.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

I will probably take our small sony handycam.
It one that is about the size of a pop can...and it shoots in hd. Only drawback is it takes Sony's mem sticks and they are pricey!

 

[BridetobeDisney]

We have brought our Sony handycam on the trips that we've taken our DS2 on. It might be a little bulky but I always carry it and never make DH carry it. He's usually carrying DS because he doesn't want to ride in the stroller. If I'm pushing the stroller, I hang the bag on the handles. When we go on a ride, I hang it over my shoulder. If I hadn't carried it with us I would not be able to look back now on video of DS at 14 months at Ohana interacting and hugging Stitch, dancing to the belly dancer at Marrakesh, grabbing Mickey's nose when he wiggled it, and squealing at the giraffes from our AKL balcony.

I cherish being able to view those memories over and over and so does DS. He frequently asks to watch "Tyson's movies."

The awkwardness of carrying the video bag around for a week is definitely outweighed by the precious memories we get to look back on.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

As long as your digital camera has the ability to take video and you have a few big memory cards, you'll be fine. We do it every trip that way. There's really no reason to bring a big camera if you don't want to.

 

[fairestoneofall]

We always take the video camera. We bought a smaller one, that is much easier to carry around. And frankly, my DSLR camera is heavier than the digital recorder (DH handles the digital recorder).

I am so grateful for the videos DH has taken. I have my kids reactions to things, their sweet voices, their expressions in action, versus just a moment that an actual picture records. And I am a photographer. I cherish my pictures too, of course. But there are things that he gets with the video that I can't get with my camera.

Now, I also have a P&S that records video, but the quality isn't great. I'll use it in a pinch (like when DD got picked to fight Mack in the pirate tutorial and DH had gone to the bathroom). But, DH's video is much better than what the P&S captures.

Just saying. You can get a decent small video recorder for a good price anymore. I think it's worth it.

 

[princesslover]

Thanks everyone. This has helped me think about this in ways I hadn't considered.

We have a sony handycam too, but it's a litttle bigger than a can of pop. I'd say it's not huge, but definitley bigger than the palm of my hand (like some of the newer ones they have today). The case, though, is bulky to carry around. I've done it before, and it's no fun.

I'm leaning toward going along with my husband and not bringing it. Yes, this is our first trip to Disney, but that actually may be a reason NOT to bring it. I do not want to be looking at everything through a small screen. I want to be living in the moment. So for the small amount of video we will do, it probably is not worth having that big bag swinging around. Especially when I have my tiny little cybershot handy that will do a video in a pinch. Also, we have two kids. I am imagining dealing with my 6yo and 2 yo, and a video camera, and a point and shoot at the same time. Eh. Too much when we don't really know what to expect or what we are doing as it is!!

Would I love a top quality video of our whole vacation? Sure. It may not be worth the trade off though. Thanks for all your comments, I do appreciate it.

 

[Big Daddy Incredible]

I always carry a backpack when we visit WDW. I keep the video camera loose in the backpack - ready to be taken out at a moment's notice. The backpack is a drag but we have other things that we need to have for our kids so we need the backpack. The video camera is just one more thing.

But I mainly want to have our video camera and digital camera available because you never know when that Disney magic will present itself. We got 10 minutes of video to go along with this pic of our kids during our trip back in August.

 

[princesslover]

I always carry a backpack when we visit WDW. I keep the video camera loose in the backpack - ready to be taken out at a moment's notice. The backpack is a drag but we have other things that we need to have for our kids so we need the backpack. The video camera is just one more thing.

But I mainly want to have our video camera and digital camera available because you never know when that Disney magic will present itself. We got 10 minutes of video to go along with this pic of our kids during our trip back in August.

Great picture! That's a good idea about throwing it in the backpack, but were you worried at all about it getting damaged just sort of thrown in there like that? My DH is a bit "anal" about equipment -- not sure he'd go for that. Good idea though. Certainly better than having the case swinging around over my shoulder.

 

[Big Daddy Incredible]

Hi princesslover. At first, I was also leery about leaving it loose in our backpack. But we usually have some other soft things in our backpack that we use to protect the video camera - things like hats, autograph books, rain ponchos, etc... I will admit that our video camera has a few nicks and scratches on it and they are most likely due to our trips to WDW. But I consider that a very small price to pay for the fantastic video footage that we have recorded over the years.

You just have to remember to 1. be gentle with your backpack, 2. prevent the video camera from getting wet and 3. always always always keep an eye on your backpack.

Good luck making your decision.

 

[TinkGirl]

Unless your kids are really small, I sure wouldn't lug around a video camera. Keep it simple!

 

[DisneyFamily123]

We really love our Canon Camera, no bigger than a man's wallet. The newer digital cameras will take high definition video with no limits to length. The newer cameras also will take high capacity memory cards. I took some 4GB and 8GB cards. They hold a lot of videos. Look for image stabalization too on the list of features. There are some very nice canon cameras for $300 or less.

 

[crazycatlady]

On our 1st 3 family trips to DW I took about 1 1/2 - 2 hours of video each time. Our kids were small and the videos were a great way to be able to remember all the fun times of our trips after we got home. When we went on our 4th trip last month, we took the camcorder but I had decided to only tape a small amount each day since we had so much footage from our previous trips. I was very proud of myself for sticking to this plan until we got home and sat down to watch what I had taped. After watching the 20 minute trip video we all felt very let down. Even DH, who usually has to be badgered into watching family home videos told me that we had not taken nearly enough footage this time. But that is my family. Our kids watch our Disney trips a couple times a year for fun.

Do you have small children going on your trip? If so, then I would totally recommend taking the video camera. You get used to carrying the thing around.Can you get a cheap smaller bag?

 

[pepe of ohio]

If you bought one or have one and not take it, why did you buy one in the first place. We've done 43 trips since 1977 and when our children were young took many videos, that was back when cameras were VHS, and quite huge and bulky, but it went and the memories captured are priceless. Now that the children are gone and we both just turned 60, we still take the video camera, but on a smaller scale, it's now mini DVD disk, fits in the palm of my hand and is very easy to point and shoot. Go on a trip without it, never, I take it to the parks for half a day each day, some mornings and then some evenings, getting the videos we want, which we still enjoy and like to show on cold northern Ohio snowy weekends. I've seen other guests haul half their house around the parks, a small video camera is just a drop in the bucket compared to all the other stuff, and it's better to have than to wish you did. No matter where we go, or when, I always take my camera and swimsuit, just for the sentence above.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

I would bring it! You never know what kind of magic you will want to catch on film-pictures or video.
My canon shoots amazing video on the camera itself so we haven't needed to bring our older bulky camera but some of our favorite memories are caught on film. And of course, we couldn't have shot our disney dancing video without it!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

No. You will not regret bringing a video camera.

You will find that you will be able to look at things and enjoy them. A normal field of view is much greater than what you are seeing through a viewer.

And, on a similar thought, the digital still camera is the bane of civilization. I have owned Nikon F-Series cameras since the late 1960's and have an assortment of lenses. I was brought up when film and processing were expensive. I found that over the years I would tend to keep less than 25% of the photos I took; keeping on the ones of good quality. Nowadays I see people posting something about "here is a link to my 964 photos from my seven day trip". What were they doing other than taking photos, and most of them are bad anyway.

 

[serene56]

Just a note- even if your camera case was not big and bulky please do NOT pack it in the luggage that you check in. Nothing of value should really be packed that way--