dv camcorders

[your_comforting_company]

Ok, I admit my phone takes crappy pictures and you don't even want to try to watch a video recorded with it.
My wife has a Kodak camera that takes good pics but there is a delay in the audio if you try to take video with it.
I'm on a limited budget.. basically I have no money to spend on a dv recorder. To buy one means I'm not gonna have the money for something else when it comes around. BUT christmas sales will be coming up shortly and maybe I can spring for one and just do without something else for a while. I'm probably gonna call it my wife's christmas present and let her run it. She's the shutterbug in the family.

Anyone who knows a lot about dv cameras.. please give me some direction. I want to make good quality videos. I'll get a lapel mic for better audio. It would be nice if it took still pics too. I hope I can get the whole deal for less than 100 bucks. I'm open to suggestions that fall under those requirements. Size isn't a concern for me. The camera should be able to take some abuse too.. remember I'm the guy that beats rocks together for fun...

Thanks in advance
Your Comforting Company

[Rick]

I think you want to look at digital cameras that also take movies rather than a digital recorder.

I have a Canon Powershot A570 IS that I really like. It's the one I take to the field with me. All my woodsy photos that I've posted on here were taken with it. It takes both still and video and does a pretty good job of it. Here's a review on it from CNET

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-a570-is/4505-6501_7-32314644.html

I did a search on thefind and found one for $90., which is an incredible price. They are normally around $200 but you can usually find them on sale for less. I did find a couple in the $115 range. I don't know anything about this store. I've never dealt with them.

http://digitalelectronics4less.com/digital_camera_canon_a570.htm

[crashdive123]

I don't own a digital recorder, but the ones I looked at seem a bit spendy (I'm sure there are less expensive ones out there). You may want to pm Pict and Erunk to find out what they use to make their videos. Sales are just around the corner - a good time to buy.

[your_comforting_company]

how's the audio delay on the vids, and can I add a mic to it? I read the reviews, but didn't see any detail on those aspects. since u own one, I thought I'd ask.
Thanks Rick. I'll be giving this one some consideration.

[Rick]

There isn't any. The only problem you'll run into on video is the amount of data the card can hold. The camera comes with a 16M memory card. That's pretty small for today's needs but about average for any camera you purchase. I've upgraded to a 4Gb card so that tacks on $20 or so. Frankly, I don't know about an external microphone. I've never used one.

I think you'll get much better video quality from a video recorder but you'll pay much more, too. That being said, there's nothing wrong with the video quality of this camera. I think your limitation will be on how long a video you can make and that will be dependent upon the size of memory card you have.


Here is a link to the manual if you want to read more. Just scroll down to the manual section.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=DownloadDetailTabAct&fcategoryid=320&modelid=14905

[preachtheWORD]

I have a Canon Powershot A630. My wife bought it, but I think it was in the $300 range.

It takes OUTSTANDING still photos and has a fairly good video recording function. I have made many videos of my "adventures" with it. It is not really designed to withstand rough treatment, but to my surprise, it has survived a lot of unintentional abuse.

The memory card that came with it holds practically nothing. When I started to make videos, I had to get a 1GB memory card, which will hold about an hour of video.

It has served me well, but is limted in many ways. For example, if you try to zoom while taking video, the shot becomes pixilated very quickly. It doesn't do this with still shots, even at full digital zoom.

[Rick]

It takes a lot of horse power to record video so you won't find a lot of bells and whistles on a digital camera that also does video. The extras are geared toward still pics. However, you can get the job done in the price you want.

Another thing to consider are the batteries. I use NiMH batteries from Radio Shack. I loath buying them because they are exorbitantly expensive but they last the longest of any rechargeable battery I've tried. I, too, would be open to suggestions in this category. Radio Shack should choke for what they charge for batteries.:sneaky2::thumbdown::flare::death:

[your_comforting_company]

rat shack should hang for every blasted thing they sell. I was gonna buy pliers and cable ends for a cat5e that needs fixing... 35 bucks for the pliers and 16 for 8 ends... thats 50 bucks for a 10 dollar cable. GRRRR. :hang:

so i went to wally world and got a cable. I stay away from rat shack

my wife's camera is a Kodak easyshare C340. She said they took some videos that were ok, but there was a delay on the audio.
I might try it again doing something just to see.

thanks for the inputs guys. sorry i'm working with such a limited budget.. makes the selections pretty narrow :(

[Rick]

Hey, no need to apologize. We all do what we can. Just hope we were able to help a bit.

[Rick]

Hey, YCC, I set up my camera in video mode this morning and just let it run to see how long it would record. It lasted about 30 minutes before the memory card was full. I started with an empty card so 30 minutes, on that camera, seems to be the ceiling for a 4Gb card. The good news is the batteries are still good.