[PrimalSeal]

Anyone who has experience in video cameras, since I have none, some help in picking one out would be great. I am lost with all the digital details and features, I have honestly no idea what to buy or even where to start looking.

 

[godlessdustin]

I say go for something with a hard disk drive. You dont have any disks, film, tapes, anything to worry about. You just plug it to your pc and upload the files. I have a sony handy cam with a 30 gig hard drive and I love it and it's never given me any problems. I got mine a few years ago so they probably have some awesome new models out by now with hi-def and stuff. I would check google for prices. I hear JVC makes some nice ones too.

 

[Strangerous]

What do you want to do with it?
The answer will help everyone guide you.

 

[PrimalSeal]

Capture my trip to Alaska and the rest of my family experiences....

 

[Strangerous]

ok, we talking long battery runtime, rugged, easy to use, with high capacity/quality.

 

[Branth]

I'm just a general computer geek, so PM me if you'd like me to send you a list of good ones. If you're ordering online, newegg.com usually has great prices on computers, and I bet they have video cameras too.

 

[PrimalSeal]

Branth, you have a PM.

 

[panoz77]

Primal, I would go with a hard drive camera or if you want to get by a little cheaper look for a digital (mini DV) that also takes SD cards, you can store well over 1 hour of video (non-HD) on a 2 gig card, the batteries usually don't last as long as the SD cards. If you go the HD route, you will get more expensive. Also look for OPTICAL zoom. My camera was under $300, it is a Samsung SC-D363, 30x optical zoom. The picture quality is OK in bright light and poor in low light. But for a cheap cam it has the features that I wanted.

Something like this? Under $300 range, better than what I have.
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=434283

 

[HiPoint45]

Personally I have a sony mini dv (tapes)I love it and I like the fact that I have the tape as a back up, not just on HD, Mini dv has the firewire connection IEEE1394 for transfer right to my laptop where I can edit etc. The camera is small, has a flip out screen and a full color lcd viewfinder also. I have been very happy with it I think it was only a couple of bills. Takes great outdoor videos and even has nightvision which works in a totally dark room. If you do get this or any camera with firewire trust me don't go to best buy etc to buy the firewire cable...what they charge $30 for in the store can be found as low as 2.99 online and no quality difference.