I have a very important quesion that I would love to have answered; what kind of camera do you suggest I buy for my trip to Italy? I absolutley love to take pictures and record memories and for that I need a savvy camera/camcorder. My husband wants a Sony camera/camcorder(costs about $1,300) to record video and take pictures. Apparently this camera has a memory of 120 GB, does anyone have any ideas?
Sally
Sally, when we purchased our camera, we took into account
1) battery. Will is cost me an arm + leg to get replacement batteries? or can I use a regular battery from a common drug store? If I recall, Sony uses some special lithium battery. You'll need spares in case your battery drains which may be costly (even if it is rechargables).
2) memory card. Is the memory card easy to find? We did not take this into consideration til we needed one, and found out that our current camera takes a unique card. We had to go to 3 different camera stores to find it.
3) weight of item. There are some cameras which weighs nothing and if you're walking all day with it, this may be something to consider.
I would go to a camera store and test all the bells and whistles. I am sure there will be plenty of people to post their suggestions.
We ended up buying a regular digital camera with camcorder features (a year ago). So when we were at the soccer match in Madrid, we used the video function for the crowds, but mainly used the still camera features. I think ours cost $350 for 8.5 pixels, but got a 2 gb card.
For years I've had a digital camera that also records video and sound (but it's primarily a still camera). It has finally dawned on me that when I get home from a trip, the short video/sound clips I've recorded excite me more than all the still photos I've made. Unfortunately, the camera's memory card is only 128 MB so it fills up pretty fast when I take even a little video.
So I've recently purchased a camcorder that can take still photos easily, but it's primarily a video and sound recorder. Rather than a memory card, it has a 30 GB hard disk, so it can record up to 37 hours of video.
My plan is not to make long boring videos of everything I see. Rather, I plan on taking short videos, like 10 to 15 seconds each, in situations where I'd have made a still photo in the past. That gives time to pan around a little, pick up some background noise of my family and friends and other sounds that will help me remember the experience, and to speak in my own notes about what I'm recording. Of course, I also have the option to make long videos if a drunk American staggers by or something.
I think as time goes by these short videos will mean a lot more to me than still photos.
The camcorder I got was a JVC GZ-MG330AU. It's only slightly larger than the small digital camera it replaces. The only reason I got this one is that I got it free with credit card rewards points. Otherwise I'd have picked one from the recent Consumer Reports article on the subject.
Obviously, this is a very subjective question. You need to go to the store and play with them all to see which ones you are most comfortable with. If you want an outstanding digital camera coupled with an outstanding camcorder, you're correct in that you're going to pay a lot for it. Few camcorders really excel at taking still photos, and those that do are very expensive.
Instead, if you're really into taking photos, might I suggest a "mega-zoom" compact digital camera? We have a Canon S3IS ($300, newer S5IS is $350) that we've carted all over Germany, Austria, and recently Italy. It has a 12x optical zoom, excellent photo processing, and will shoot video at 640x480 at 30fps. In other words, its a stellar picture camera, with acceptable video performance.
It runs on 4x AA batteries, and we shot about 700 photos before having to change. This was using the excellent Energizer e2 lithium batteries, which I also highly recommend (I pay $20 for 12 at Sams Club). They're more expensive, but very light to carry and last forever.
Alternatively, in the small camera arena, we also have a Canon Digital Elph that runs on a proprietary rechargeable lithium battery. The charger operates natively on Euro power (only need a plug adapter), and we charged it every night in the hotel and never had a problem. If you're really concerned, you can pick up a backup Canon battery for about $30 and keep both with you.
For camera research, my two favorite websites for in-depth and unbiased information are:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
Bryan
June 4 Wall Street Journal had an interesting review of a tiny Camcorder called a "Flip Mino" from Pure Digital Technologies. It costs $180 and is more compact then their original versions. I plan to look into it for our next trip. The batteries are rechargeable and it records up to 60 minutes of video. We use our Canon Elph digital camera now to take both pictures and videoclips and I am very happy with it. I like to think small and can fit in my purse and take out a moments notice if I see a video or photo I want to take. A friend just went on a trip and the video clips from their digital camera were awful, but took good pictures. The quality of the pictures and video clip my digital camera takes and their sound is so much better. I know, because I am making them a DVD of their trip for them and wish I had lent them my camera to take. What ever camera you decide to buy you should buy it ahead of you trip and practice with it. We have a camcorder that we don't bother taking because of it's size and awarkness; and, because we are happy with the video clips we get from our Elph right now.
Last weekend I ran into a friend who recently returned from an Alaska cruise. Before he left on the cruise he had wandered into Radio Shack and saw their DXG DXG-569V 5.0MP Digital Camcorder. He bought it for $150 and took it on the trip.
For a camcorder, it's tiny. Fits into your pocket easily, weighs less than 6 oz. It has a good-sized screen that flips out as a view finder, and to play back your movies/photos "in the field". He filmed his whole trip with just a 2GB SD card he plugged into the camera's SD slot.
My own camcorder requires copying movies via USB cable to the desktop, then running a converter program to convert the movies to AVI format so I can send them to others. This Radio Shack mini stores movies on the SD card in Quicktime format, and still photos as JPG, so they're easy to move to a computer and ready to send right away. I love it. The videos are just as good as I make with my $500 camcorder that's much larger and heavier. I'm planning to sell my camcorder and get one of these minis.
I just returned from a Traflagar Tour of Italy. I purchased a Canon G9 digital for the trip.
I also (stupidly) carried my Canon Elan 35mm camera as well.
The G9 did a marvelous job. The low light capabilities were incredible. Very important for church/musuem shots where flashes are not allowed.
That camera has a ISO 3200 speed that took very good pics in near darkness.
On the Amalfi coast my Elan with a circular polarizer filter did not take as good of pictures as the Canon G9.
I did not take any video, but the G9 has video capabilities as well. Check it out.
Hi Sally
Check what the megapixels are on the camcorder. it might be able to take photos, but that doesnt mean that it will take good ones. Also, do you really need 120Gb worth of memory?? My JVC is 40Gb and that will be plenty!
If you decide to buy a digital camera that can also take small movies, check out the quality of the movies... as i said above, just be cause it can, doesnt mean its good. :)
What helped me was to Google for more info, such as "what to look for when buying a camcorder"
Good Luck with your choice :)
I did tons of research on digital cameras before we went to Thailand in November of 2006. From my research I found that the Canon powershot was the best camera for what I was looking for. I bought the Canon Powershot S3 and I love it. It is a great camera that takes great pictures. The only downside, which is true with most digital cameras, is that taking pictures at night without a tripod is difficult. The camera runs on AA batteries, so you won't break the bank buying batteries. I took over 2000 pictures in Thailand and can't wait to use it for our trip to Italy, Greece and Turkey in August.
I had a Kodak Easy Share digital camera (stolen in Padua and replaced in Venice with a Samsung digital point-and-shoot). With both I shot short video clips--dogs being shown at a dog show (I show dogs so of course, had to make it to at least one dog show), a group of HS age students playing in a saxaphone quartet, a street musician singing in Strasbourg. The videos are decent, the still photos fabulous and as for using up memory, all I had was a 2gig SANDISK and will probably buy a few more for future trips so that I don't have to keep downloading everything (although that was a saving grace since there was NOTHING on my camera when it was stolen as I had downloaded everything to my laptop the night before). Point being that you don't need a 120 gig drive or an expensive camera to get great shots and videos. A small point-and-shoot that takes memory cards will do the trick and if you bring multiple memory cards, you won't have a lot of extra weight, either.
We spent one month in Italy last October. I brought a Canon 30d SLR and two lenses. One was a tamron .28
28-70 and the other was a tamron 18to 200. Used the 2.8 constant aperature only on the Vatican Sistene chapel tour since flash is discouraged. For the rest of the time I used the 18-200mm lens. I used one 4gig compact flash card and filled it. The next card only had 35 images by the time that we left. The camera battery usually lasted two days before re-charging.Bring a dual voltage charger and plug adaapters. Also,there is a camera strap with two steel cables in it for security.
I love my Sony CyberShot. It is tiny, tiny, which means that I will actually take it and use it. As much as I love the SLRs, they're bigger than we're willing to lug for a trip like this.
In that same spirit, for our upcoming trip (2 weeks from today will be our first day in Rome!), we just purchased a Flip Video. Ours is the Ultra, not the Mino (mentioned earlier in this thread), so it doesn't have rechargeable batteries. But, it still seems great. It's not the same quality as a "real" camcorder, but, again, size does matter.
The one deficiency of both the camera and camcorder mentioned here is the zoom. Both are limited (3x and 2x, respectively). But, life is full of compromises.
Sally, are you more interested in taking video of your trip to Italy or still photos? That will be the most important criteria in deciding which type of Camera to buy. Most video cameras these days will also take "stills", but in my experience these aren't as good as those taken by a normal digital camera. Also, most newer digital cameras can take short video clips, but I'm not sure these are of the same quality as a dedicated video camera?
If you prefer a digital (still) Camera, there are three general types to consider - a compact "point & shoot", a "superzoom" or a digital SLR. Each type has benefits and disadvantages.
Compact P&S Cameras take excellent photos but are limited to some extent by zoom range (3-4x on many models), wide angle capability and ISO (film speed) range. However, they're pocket-size and are easy to carry.
The "superzoom" models provide better image stabilized zoom and in some cases slightly better wide angle capability, but these are often a bit larger so not as easy to carry. Some provide a greater range of manual controls, which offers better flexibility.
Digital SLR's are the most flexible and provide the best options to get good photos under a wide range of conditions. However, there is a "learning curve" which has to be considered. These are also much larger and therefore not as easy to carry, especially considering the extra Lenses and other kit that usually goes with them. These provide the best range of controls and ISO ranges and the quickest "start up", so it's often possible to get good photos under varying conditions that wouldn't be possible with other Cameras.
I always travel with a Canon dSLR & associated kit lately, as well as a small P&S to take out in the evenings. I find this approach works well for me. Even though the dSLR is more trouble to pack around, there's NO WAY I'll ever leave it behind! There have been MANY photos that I wouldn't have been able to get without it.
Cheers!
