Buying new camera

[kuntushi]

I know there are lots of threads like this already, but it's hard to judge what you need by looking at others posts. They all want different things... anyway, I won't rant lol.

Basically, I am looking for a reliable digital video camera. I don't mind what brand, and I just really want a generic one. I want the quality to be fairly descent, but that's not a big ask these days. The only other feature that I really want, is the ability to take descent still shots.

I know you all have your own preferences for brands and what not... I personally don't mind as long as the thing doesn't break in a year. I just want a reliable camcorder that takes descent footage and still shots for simple memoribilia purposes.

Thanks for your time guys. I'll continue to read up on it all...

[p4ocer]

How much cash are u looking to spend?

[kuntushi]

Sorry, forgot to mention that. I am in Australia... but I guess just the average price. I read in another thread that's roughly 350 quid. So yeah, anything around that average range.

[Ian in Northampton]

Kuntushi: bear in mind, re using it for still shots, that for that amount of money you may well be able to get a camera with an 800K CCD - but that's well below the average for today's digital still cameras. If you only want to show your stills on a screen, you should be fine, but they won't print well and they won't enlarge at all. I agree, though, for non-demanding applications it's a handy facility to have. That said, if you're planning to edit your movies afterwards, I think I'm right in saying that most video editors will allow you to 'grab' a frame and use it as a still image.

[kuntushi]

yeah, I always figured I could od the grab frame thing. But that always loses the effect somehow, cause you have to go "make" the photo afterwards. But it's something I might jsut do anyways.

The thing is I really want a still camera so I can just whip it out and take a photo of something that is sorta one off (like a group of people in for a group photo), but still want to be able to video tape other events at the same time.

I think even the 800K thing might be alright. Like, I want to be able to take the pics, and jsut show them on a PC or something to other people as normal pics. I am not worried about zooming in and editing the photos, it's purely for just capturing that "kodak" moment lol.

[bgarthp]

I use a sony digital-8 camera, and its very resiliant, I've had it over 18 months and in that time I've dropped it onto carpets, concrete and rocks, partially submerged it in sea water, and permanently kept it in a sandy-salty rucksack on top of a damp wetsuit. In all that time it's been damaged but it always comes back to life eventually. Very well built.

I grab stills for e-mailing and computer stuff, not print, from Premiere then de-interlace and they look fine. I think it's got an 800k chip.

[kuntushi]

That cam sounds pretty good to me.

Does anyone know any others by other manufacturers that are around the same range as this cam? This range of DV cam sounds like the one for me.