Which Camcorder or Video Cam?

[jcc911]

So with the greatly anticipated arrival of our first child in the next two weeks, my wife suggested I purchase a camcorder. So which one? I really don't know anything about them.
I ordered two new iphones, but am thinking they will not be delivered in time.

Any suggestions? I really only think i need is for it to have a record and stop button, thats about it.
What about something like the Sony Bloggie? Seems simple, cheap,...

Thanks guys

[crustychief]

Congratulations (early) on the new family member. As for the camera, I would just get something that is easy for you to use. The Iphone has a pretty good camera in it and is very simple, you just have to remember to offload the videos from it frequently or you will run out of memory.

[Rick V]

Originally Posted by crustychief

Congratulations (early) on the new family member.

Yup

[Rloop]

I have a 3 year old and have made hundreds of videos of those "moments" you think you want to capture. Your cell phone is good, iphone or whatever, because it is always handy. Problem is no zoom. In good lighting and close up, it is a great solution, I think half of the hundreds of videos are from an iphone.

I suggest youy pick up the latest low cost, ~$250ish small, simple camcorder from Samsung, that is what I did. It is very small, batterys last a long time, zoom and low light really pay off, and a standard SD card with 32gigs hold many videos. Also takes great still photos.

Final suggestion, keep the videos short, under 2 minutes. Video editing is a time consuming pain, unless you are into that. Maybe my attention spoan is too short, but anything over 2 minutes gets old fast. Also the files get big if you need to email, or if you want to forward that "moment" you just captured on the iphone.

[Rloop]

Agree on the small camera solution, just check that they allow autofocus and zoom in the video mode - not all do.

[gprsh924]

iPhone shoots hd videos and is always on hand.

[Rich76_911s]

Depending on how much you want to spend I would seriously consider a digital SLR that shoots video along with still shots. I don't think you'll ever look back and say I wish I had saved X dollars for lower quality photos of your kid(s).

I have a Digital SLR that does not shoot video, it's an older version, that we use for stills of our little man, and we got a $300 panasonic (I think) video camera that shoots HD.

The Iphone or andriod phones are great for catching a moment quickly, but they pale in quality comparison to the video camera and the Digital SLR.

One thing I accidentally did was record the audio of the first time my wife held the baby with my cell phone. It is the best mistake I ever made.

BTW congratulations. It is the awesomest thing in the world. First couple of weeks are unbelievably crazy, but things settle down after that.

Have fun,
Rich

[jcc911]

Guys thanks for the kind words. I have to make a decision quick as he could come any day. And not shure when the iPhones will arrive.