What type of digital camcorder should I buy and why?

Question

Be very descriptive as to price, where to get it, and especially WHY I should choose that one. I have a 5 mos old baby who is about to have a ton of firsts. That said, obviously for that reason budget is tight. Let me know for my situation what I should do!!

Answer 1

There is nothing quite like capturing your childs first steps on a video camera.   His or her first Birthday, as they basically plaster a cake all over their face and your furniture.  Obviously, you will want to preserve these priceless memories for years to come.  One of the most import aspects of selecting a Video Camera is the media you plan to archieve these priceless memories on.  Some say, the way to ensure the best quality video for years to come is tape (more specifically MiniDV).  I am not entirely sold on tape, considering I purchased a "TOP OF THE LINE" Sony HI-8 Camcorder when my first child was born.  Now I have 100 plus hours of wonderful video, and a camcorder on it's last legs.   I recently purchased a 750 GB external harddrive and am beginning to transfer the video to the computer.  Approximately 120 hours of work in the transfer, and probably another 120 hours to transfer to DVD's to be stored in a fire proof safe deposit box along with the tapes.  If someone told me, I could own a HI-8 video player that would last forever, and I could transfer these precious memories with out a glitch 25+ years from now, I wouldn't even go down this road of transfering my memories to the computer.   You are probably wondering why I am telling you this story?  Why don't I just give you an answer to your question?  My logic here is to get you to think about the long-term impacts on your time and energy before you make a selection.

Here is my logic for reducing the impacts of video archiving.

Purchase a media with the highest digital data retention you can afford (HD - High Definition).  Transfer the data as quickly as you can, preserving the maximum quality you can in the transfer - Using harddrive or solid state "flash memory" then burn to the highest capacity discs - such as blu-ray discs to be archived and protected from damage.  Use the information of the computer harddrive to create wonderful DVD's for grandparents and other family members, and keep your archive data for transferring to the next storage media change  20+ years from now.    

With all that said - go buy the Sony "Hybrid" HDR-SR11 with 60GB HDD and Flash Memory Slot recording ability.   Cost $1199 at Crutchfields.com.   This camcorder records in AVCHD format, and can be transfered quickly from Flash Memory to your Computer Harddrive and then burned to Blu-ray media.  Further the AVCHD looks great on the new HD TV's.  Maybe not quite as good as MiniDV's in the HDV format, but you can get there quicker, and I can barely see the difference.  This camcorder will serve your needs well.

For a more budget friendly high definition product - look at Samsungs new HMX-10 HD "Flash media" Camera.  $549.  If this is too much to afford - Go with a MiniDV camcorder for the time being, and just plan on spending more time than money in the process of archiving your data. Sony DCR-HC38 Mini DV Camcorder is at just under $250 - Standard Definition.

Also, go out and buy a very good Camera.  Prosumer grade camera and lenses preferred - shoot the best photos you can, and have them printed with great ink and paper. Take lots of digital pictures, and make 2 hard "prints" of your favorite shots (those that capture the moments best, and that you enjoy the most), using 100+ year inks and paper.  Put one copy in your achieve (damage protected) and make photo albums out of the other. I assure you, these photo albums will be the priceless keepsakes you and your family will enjoy for generations to come.

Happy Memory Making!

Answer 2

The best value out there now is the Panasonic PVGS320, it's a 3CCD lens prosumer-level mini-dv camcorder that is on sale at Circuit City. Read the reviews on it.

Answer 3

i have bought a lot of diffrent cameras but i never had one as god as the  exilim u can buy it at bestbuy for like 180 very good quality 7.2 megapixels