camcorder or camera?
My crappy digital camera finally bit the dust, and now I’m debating whether to get another digital camera or go for a camcorder. I can’t afford both, otherwise I’d get both. I have to pick one or the other.
I just can’t decide. Does anyone have any advice/experience on this issue?
Most camcorders take still pictures, of varying quality. And most digital cameras let you record short video clips, also of varying quality. I want to be able to do movies and regular pictures, both of good quality. I suppose in the end I’ll be taking more still pictures than anything, but I’ve been wanting a camcorder since Ry was born. 15 second clips from my old camera just aren’t enough to satisfy my document-everything need. And with my mac, I can make cool home movies, if I had a camcorder. But I really want a nice digital camera so I can take cool pictures.
argh! It’s a tough decision. Someone make it for me.
well – I don’t think you’re going to find a camcorder that takes great pictures, unless you get an HD camcorder – and those aint cheap.
The Canon Elura 100 seems to the be best ‘bang for the buck’ for a digital camcorder. About $300. It seems like you could get a very good midrange still camera for half that.
The Canon Powershor A530 is a 5 megapixel still camera… and it’s $139 at this place: http://www.ccicameracity.com/powershota530.html
Whatever you do, don’t buy it at Best Buy or Circuit City… they have the highest markup. Get it online… use Froogle, or c|net to find a good price.
Ive been researching and planning to buy a camcorder for 18 months. Ive researched online and talked to a bunch of Bestbuy “consultants” and camcorder owners… Ive still not bought one but it is boiling down to the Sony DCR-DVD505 DV Camcorder look at http://WWW.bizrate.com for unbelievable prices. I too dont want to buy a seperate digital camera when one camera could do it all.
hey – i have the cannon powershot G 6 or something. i cant remember. i like it a lot. takes good pictures and good video. i think retodd spent like $400 – but that was last spring. should be cheaper.
-gina
Unfortunately they dont make them cheaper they discontinue them then come out with a new version thats either the same price or a lttle more expensive with a few more enhanced features…thats why I am takng so long ..i was looking at the dvd405 nows its the dvd505!!!!
I personally like the digital still camera option. Those little snippets are really only limited in length by the size of the memory card you use with the camera, and 2GB cards are getting real cheap. I’ve seen Robin record like 45 seconds straight of Emma, which sounds short until you realize that’s pretty much long enough to catch whatever a one year old’s gonna do about six times in a row.
Also, we take (as our flickr account will testify) like 3 trillion photos of her every day, so it’s no contest as to which option (still/motion) was more valuable to us. And if you’re curious about quality, or just about how damn adorable my daughter is, here’s a link to an 8 second (16MB) video of her cracking herself up while playing with my cellphone.