Camcorders--questions from a complete idiot

[susnfx]

Hi friends -
I figured if I wanted some feedback on camcorders, this was the place to find it since so many people on C&F have such strong opinions about so many things.

Background: My daughter and son-in-law are expecting a little guy in June--my first grandchild . I want to surprise them with a camcorder. I've never owned a camcorder, never used one, and don't know the slightest thing about them. I've spent hours over the last few weeks reading reviews, looking at prices, etc. ... I think I'm narrowing things down but have two BASIC questions. I believe I've decided on a Panasonic HD and have been looking at the SD60/TM55/TM60 models. I look at the specifications, however, and they mean basically nothing to me. First stupid question:

These apparently use a memory card...does that play in your computer?? I know it can play to an HDTV (which they've got), but can they just load the videos onto their laptop?? I mean, I'm from the old school watch-it-on-a-white-screen-or-sheet... you must be able to play them on your computer, otherwise what would you play them on?

Second stupid question:
Since I don't know what I'm doing, would I be better off giving them a $450-500 gift card to Best Buy and letting them make the choice themselves or is this really not that difficult a decision??

What do you think?

Susan

[Denny]

I've an older model, mini CD era.
The electronics have gotten better.
The lenses are pretty good for their price range.

all of these were shot with it.

The file format the camera uses may or may not be playable on whatever player you run into on your PC.
Converting to a format that will be recognized, when downloading from camera to PC, is very simple.
The video editor that we use will take the HD version from the camera.

[fearfaoin]

These apparently use a memory card...does that play in your computer??

What happens is every time you press the record
button a new video file is created on the memory
card. This file is filled with whatever video data
is captured until you hit "stop" on the camcorder.
When you put the memory card into a computer,
you will presented with all the video files on the
card. You can click on any of these files and the
computer will show you the video. Also, you can
edit the files on your computer. It's not "played"
in the linear sense that you're used to: "put in the
tape and it plays from the beginning to the end".
But yes, any computer will show the videos they
record.

As long as the camcorder doesn't save the videos
in a really weird file format, it's a pretty easy
decision. I actually bought a still camera which
turns out to take extremely good video, which is
another option. Consumer camcorders may actually
be obsolete soon if a regular camera can do an
equally good job.

[Denny]

ah, memory card is good....

everything else has moving parts...bad

yeah, the stills are doin' good at movies these days.

[fearfaoin]

Incidentally, my brother-in-law bought a Flip
video camera when his son was born, and he
swears by it. It's dead easy to use and instead
of a memory card, it just plugs directly into any
USB port on the computer. And they're pretty
inexpensive.

http://www.theflip.com/

[BigDavy]

Hi Susan

The three models you mention seem to be the same basic camera with the only difference being the amount of internal memory - 0/8GB/16GB.

Looking at the camera standard accessories - an SD card is not included with any of the cameras, so for the SD60 at least you will need to factor in the cost of a SD card.
TM55 spec sheet in PDF

[cheapskate Scot]Given the roughly 40 bucks difference between the SD60 and the TM55, getting the SD60 and spending that difference on a larger capacity SD card would give you more recording time and the exact same facilities. [/cheapskate scot]

David

[avanutria]

Knowing nothing about these cameras except for the abovementioned statement about internal memory, I would vote for the 0MB internal memory and buying a separate card. Internal memory can be annoying as you have to either hook up the camera to the computer directly (thus draining battery or requiring it to be plugged into a power socket) or fiddle with the menus to transfer the internal memory data onto a separate card anyway.

Also - get a Sandisk memory card. I love their lifetime warranty. I've returned two dud cards to them (postage prepaid) over the course of eleven years and never had any problem with getting warranty replacements, even without proof of purchase. And the dud-ness was not their fault - other electronic devices fried the cards both times. I almost never buy any card other than Sandisk brand.

As for buying them the device or giving them a gift card - that would depend on whether they like to pick out their own electronic goodies or whether they'd be more pleased with having it to play with straight away. Make sure you shop around for the best price, too - Best Buy has often been higher priced than places like Amazon when I have done price comparison purchases. Also check out B&H Photo / Video (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/) to see what their price is - I've bought cameras from them multiple times and highly recommend their service and secure packaging.

[susnfx]

Thanks for the feedback--I have a better understanding now and have an idea of which direction I want to go.

Good to know about the memory cards, and that Flip camera looks like fun!

Thanks!

Susan