[rancho_gordo]

Pure Digital camcorder.

This seems like it would be great on a trip.

[mcj]

rancho_gordo, on Mar 17 2007, 11:41 PM, said:

Pure Digital camcorder.

This seems like it would be great on a trip.

If it appears to suit your needs, then that's pretty much all you need to know.

It handily uses AA batteries, available almost anywhere in a pinch. I would suggest getting several metal-hydride batteries - preferably the kind that come with a quick-charger (recharges in about 15 minutes).


I'd be a bit concerned that there isn't a memory card to swap when the memory gets full, because it would have to be downloaded somewhere. Murphy gets involved.

[GrantK]

Depends what you want to do with it and the footage. The two main drawbacks for me would be the digital zoom which I haven't seen not look horrible and that you can't change the memory. An hour of video is a lot, but on a trip it could get filled up faster than you think. Plus tapes are easy to archive if you shoot something you're not going to deal with right away. How are you going to store this stuff? The mic is probably worthless for anything but ambient sound too. But it's cheap enough. And very tiny if that's a consideration. But you might need to lug around a laptop too which could be a drag if you weren't intending to otherwise. Confused yet?

[rancho_gordo]

Thank you both. It's kind of what I was thinking.
My issue is I NEVER take my video camera anywhere because it is to big and then it's a drag having all these tapes I'll never edit. The small size and USB to computer are very appealing.
Travel issues: I haven't used an internet cafe since the early days. COuld I go upload the files to my host? Would the cafe let me do that? I think a friend on my next trip is bringing a laptop. I could conceivably burn a cd after each day.
Any other thoughts are appreciated.

[rancho_gordo]

Do you mind looking at one more?
Panasonic D-Snap
I like that this one uses cards.

[GrantK]

This review seems to be a good discussion of the pros and cons of it. I still don't like the digital zoom, so you're always shooting wide angle. The resolution is okay for the web, but not anything else. And only the highest quality shoots at 30 fps, so you might run into play back problems at the other settings.

The other one gives you twice the resolution. So it depends how you're going to be watching the video whether that's an issue or not.

[rancho_gordo]

I ended up getting this one: Aiptek IS-DV2
Mine was $99 at Target.
It's a piece of crap but it's an amazing piece of crap. It runs on 2 AA batteries, uses SD memory (as does my still camera) and it's going to be perfect for small scenes that I can upload to the web or as email. Apparently it even has output to a tv. There's even a tripod hole!
I was floored to see 2 GB SD cards for 60 bucks. I paid this much for a 512 MB a few years ago and 80 was a steal on a 1 GB last year.

A quick test will be here in a minute, if you want to see a bad night shot.

The card comes out and can be used with a card reader and there's a USB port so you can download with that. There's no need to use the included software which is always a good thing. I'll do another test tomorrow in the daylight.

[rancho_gordo]

I shot the wine train going past my warehouse today.
i think this little thing's is pretty great.

[GrantK]

It would have been a better shot if you waited until the end of the train was in sight, then panned with it and then let it go out of frame. Not bad for $100 though.