# Anyone Know Much About Camcorders? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 13, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-much-about-camcorders/637598 "2012-10-13T07:28:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-much-about-camcorders/637598/1 "2012-10-13T07:28:34Z")
Or video recorders, or whatever they are now called. I’ve never owned one, but we are going overseas and thought it might not be a bad idea to take one with us. So basically, I want to know what I should be looking for in a camcorder. As it won’t get a lot of use, I don’t want to go to the top end of the market. I would like something easy to use, portable and as we hope to be getting pictures of the Northern Lights, be able to function well in the dark. Any hints would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-much-about-camcorders/637598/2 "2012-10-13T09:20:38Z")
HD Camcorders are relatively cheap now, my last one I bought was $250CDN. I usually check out the specs of the model before hand, in your case check the specs you’d want one with nightvision or low light function. Batteries won’t be that much of a concern for you since I’m assuming you be able to recharge some where while on your trip. Depending on your settings the smallest battery will last about two hours, you can buy other batteries that can last as long as ten hours. Memory cards may run up the price depending on how much filming your going to do. A 16GB high end card will yield you about three hours worth of film on the highest setting , a 64GB card about eight hours. A 64GB card can cost any where over fifity. But if you have a laptop on your trip you can just transfer the data from a smaller card and re-use it. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-much-about-camcorders/637598/3 "2012-10-13T09:39:31Z")
Thanks Ibanez. I will be taking a laptop and plenty of time is available to recharge. Prices are a bit difficult to compare as in Australia everything seems a bit more expensive but I was looking at a [Sony PJ 260VE](http://www.sony.com.au/product/hdr-xr260ve) which has an inbuilt 160 GB HD, or a [PJ580V](http://www.bhphotovideo.com/indepth/video/hands-reviews/sony-hdr-pj580v-hd-handycam-camcorder-projector)- except I’m not sure that the latter one is sold in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-much-about-camcorders/637598/4 "2012-10-13T14:02:50Z")
You can still get standalone camcorders, but still and video cameras are merging together. A lot of decent still cameras will do 1080P video, though it really does suck up the memory at that setting. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-much-about-camcorders/637598/5 "2012-10-13T14:09:57Z")
Thanks Mdcastleman, but 1080P means nothing to me. Is that a resolution? ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-much-about-camcorders/637598/6 "2012-10-13T16:23:18Z")
1080p is the standard setting of the highest setting of High Definition TV. 1080 is how many lines of horizontal video are on the screen, p stands for progressive which is better than i interlaced. Short answer 1080p is best quality TV. Have they gone to HD in Australia? You would do well with a small solid state camera that easily fits in a pocket. You will be more likely to carry it with you. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-much-about-camcorders/637598/7 "2012-10-14T03:09:49Z")
Both the camcorders I linked to above are high definition (assuming HD stands for High Definition). So I ssume you mean has Australia gone to HD television? Yes, I have a HD television. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-much-about-camcorders/637598/8 "2012-10-19T10:29:54Z")
If anyone is interested, [here](http://www.canon.com.au/For-You/Digital-Video-Cameras/HFM52) is what I ended up with.