Well, we finally dove in and bought a Panasonic SDR H200. So far we are more than pleased with it. It is unbelievably light. It also truly fits in the palm of your hand. I am a very small person and I find it comfortable to hold. My husband who is definitely larger, also finds it very comfortable. The screen has a nice resolution and the control are all logically placed. I can stop, pause, play, and pretty much control the camera with my thumb without disturbing the camera. It takes reasonable stills. I think the audio is fine. I haven't really had the chance to push this camera's limits yet, but I hope to do that really soon.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-SDR-H200-3-1MP-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B000M4KJV4
This site is the only one I have found to show the rear of the camera
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/498058675
Miriam
Roger and Allison Kulp wrote:
I would be interested in this,too.I would eventually be interested in doing DIY news,and political activism shorts,and uploading them to YouTube,LiveLeak,etc. .
Roger Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Hi All:
Sorry for the cross-posts here.
I am looking to buy a DV camera to take hiking and other travels.
The requirements are:
1. small and light, hopefully smaller and lighter than a digital SLR camera.
2. rugged and needs to have reliablly long battery life.
3. simple to use. I am no advanced videographer here. I just need something to take good video and not be hassle to use. As close to the equiv. of a point and shoot camera or fully-auto SLR camera would be great.
4. cost is a factor. I do not need the latest greatest HD camera. Good, crisp NTSC is just fine unless HD stuff is cost-effective and as small and easy to use.
5. either decent built-in sound quality or a jack for an external mic.
6. digital output so I can load the video onto my hard drive and burn DVD's. Firewire and/or USB is fine.
7. I'm assuming anything I'd want uses tape. The format would best be cheap and readily available.
In my experience, I tend to have a bias against Sony products, but I'd consider one if it were head shoulders better for the same cost. The problems I've had with Sony have always revolved around stupid design or, more often, crappy build quality and zero customer support. I very much like our little Canon point and shoot -- in fact it's what's gotten me keen on video. I love my Nikon D70 SLR but it is big and heavy and there are some situations where I'd rather shoot video to tell the whole story.
I don't see me making long "creative" "movies," more like short hits that are more about "this is what I see right now" visuals where the scenery is too big and too spectacular for my photographic skills to tell the story in a still image.
Hopefully, I'm describing what I need correctly. I don't know enough about digital video to say "I need these specific specs." That's what I'm hoping to gleen from your wise advice.
Thanks in advance for all help/suggestions.
-- Tom Fine
--------------------------------- Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell.
-- Miriam Meislik Media Curator Archives of Industrial Society University of Pittsburgh 7500 Thomas Blvd. Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (412)244-7075 voice (412)244-7077 fax miriam@xxxxxxxx
http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/archives/archives.html http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh/index.html
When your mouth drops open, click the shutter. --Harold Feinstein, November 11, 2001