# Recommend an easy to use digital camcorder for my parents? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-easy-to-use-digital-camcorder-for-my-parents/766056 "2016-09-16T01:36:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-easy-to-use-digital-camcorder-for-my-parents/766056/1 "2016-09-16T01:36:19Z")
My parents are going on a cruise in a few weeks, and my brother and I would like to give them a video camera to take with them. It needs to be very simple to operate; my mother is a technophobe, and while my dad is a little better, I don’t want it to be a source of frustration, just something they can take out and film with when they feel like it. I know short battery life is an issue with some cameras, but I’m willing to buy an extra battery and charger. Ease of memory is also an issue since they will not be able to download anything; it needs to be something they can treat like changeable film. Suggestions please? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-easy-to-use-digital-camcorder-for-my-parents/766056/2 "2016-09-16T01:44:43Z")
iPhone ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-easy-to-use-digital-camcorder-for-my-parents/766056/3 "2016-09-16T02:07:05Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > iPhone No! It can make phone calls & access the internet but if they don’t need all of that then it’s a very expensive camcorder & it’s not a great camcorder (no multipurpose device is as good as a dedicated one) or waterproof if that’s something they want. XaMaQ, look [here](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ns=p_PRICE_2%7c0&ci=1871&setNs=p_PRICE_2%7c0&N=4294548093&srtclk=sort) for cost/features that you want. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-easy-to-use-digital-camcorder-for-my-parents/766056/4 "2016-09-16T16:58:10Z")
And [here](http://studiopost.com/contact/tech-specs/calculating-disk-space-requirements) to help calculate storage (not memory) requirements for various quality video files.