Camcorders and cameras in French museums

Museums vary with no pattern that I've ever seen. Flash does as well.

What do you mean by monuments?

In my mind, a camcorder would be an overkill for weight to take a moving picture of a stationary object. If you don't take a point and shoot, you're going to feel like the Lone Ranger.

I had planned on including my family in a video; perhaps taping the city as we ride up the Eiffel Tower(only monument I can think of at the moment)or anything interesting along Seine from a boat. Maybe someone can/will suggest a digital with decent video capabilities.

Hi Joan. I have been thinking about buying one, also. The newest version of the "Flip" camcorder states that you can record up to 4 hours and store up to 12 hours of video. It's small and lightweight, but not cheap ($270 on Amazon). Anyone out there have experience with the Flip - good or bad?

The Flips work pretty well in low light....but they only have a 2X digital zoom...and it's pretty lousy. You'd have to be right next to the museum object you want to shoot to get anything worthwhile, and forget about bringing in distant views. Go for a point and shoot that has good optical zoom and can go for something that'll go as wide as an f/2.4 aperture setting for low light..many also do HD video recording now.

A bit of clarification....

Some museums let you take pictures (like the Louvre) some don't (like the Orsay)."

I've taken numerous photos in both the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay, and for the most part have never had any problems. On a trip in Fall 2006, the Louvre wouldn't allow photos in the Italian wing (Mona Lisa) but other areas were allowed (photos of the Mona Lisa were allowed on my last visit). The Musee d'Orsay has allowed photos every time I've been there. Perhaps this is a new rule?

Of course, most Galleries and Museums prohibit Flash photography and many won't allow Tripods.

To answer your original question, you might consider one of the newer P&S Cameras as they also do video. For example, the new Canon SD-4000IS is capable of 720p HD video, as well as high speed, lower res. at 320 x 240 video. If you choose that method, be sure to buy several high capacity memory cards and a spare battery!

Cheers!

"Some museums let you take pictures (like the Louvre) some don't (like the Orsay)."

Photography IS allowed in the Orsay, or else my wife would have been kicked out.

What varies amongst the museums, monuments and churches is whether or not flash photography is allowed.

I second the Panasonic Lumix. We have the model which allows you to shoot 720P HD video. Buy some SD cards. I used a 4 and 8 GB SD card and took over 1,400 still pictures and several minutes of video on our trip. I think that shooting video too long takes you out of the trip and is like work. A few snippets usually captures the moment.

If you get a mini HDMI to HDMI cord you will be able to see the pictures and video each night at the hotels since they usuualy have flat screens. The camera battery lasted each day and we just charged it up each night.

A camcorder and a camera is just another boat anchor on you and you need high resolution when you show off your trip to friends via a TV or web site. One device did it for us and it fit in my pocket and never was a burden. Bring the owners manual since you will be shooting under different conditions and need to shut off the flash at times.

I find that taking pictures of paintings is odd since you never truly get the details. Better to buy postcards of the paintings you like in the gift shop since these are professionally done. I just took pictures of the family next to the paitings or sculptures to show the size. Often what you saw in a tiny picture in a text book is actually several feet tall.

Louvre had no issue with photos.

When we finally made it to Poland after touring London , Paris and Berlin, I just popped the SD card into their Panasonic Plasmas or used the camera connections. Each night we had a great time reliving that day's adventure on the flat screen.

We were in the D'Orsay last week and I can say definitely that the no photography signs were there and prominently displayed. Some Asian tourists ignored the signs and snapped away,but they were the only ones ignoring the signs.

No photos in Orsay back in June. We used our Flip in the Louvre, going up the ET, top of Arc, catacombs, etc. It worked just fine in terms of photo quality and it is small - perfect for our trip to Paris. It is nice to see our boys walking around Paris rather than just a ton of pictures. In fact the video from it is better than most of my digital pix from the Louvre & catacombs (low light, no flash allowed). I have put my photos and the video into an imovie which is nice to show friends. So, I highly would encourage use of a Flip vs. a big camcorder.