Digital Camcorder for hunting

excaliber · May 19, 2005

Digital Camcorder for hunting

I'm in the market for a digital camcorder for hunting and for shooting some wildlife movies and to have for just messing around. I thought it might be neat to shoot some elk footage while we hunt Elk.
What do you guys use?
I was looking at the Sony Mini dvd camcorders that use those tiny dvd's to record on. Any pros or cons on them.
What type of magnification would you reccomend and what size camera? What brands and models?
Thanks in advance.

Mike

Texas_Hunter · May 20, 2005

RE: Digital Camcorder for hunting

I would stay away from the MINI DVD's as a whole - a standard DVD will only hold 20 to 30 minutes of footage. We used them at my job and realized quickly the quality and length of video just didn't suit us. The other interesting note is that not all DVD drives on PC's will play the MINI DVD's. Some of the DELL's, HP Compaq's, and IBM Desktops will not play them - it is a hardware limitation not a software. I have good luck with laptops replaying them.

I have a mini-dv in a Sony HCR 40 and I purchased the ROXIO suite for $99 to turn 2 hours of recording from one tape into a full size Region 1 DVD. My camera only has 10X Magnification and I wish I had one of the Canon's that went out to 18X or 20X, but I liked some of the other features with Sony which steered me in that direction. You are going to get alot of opinions, but I honestly believe if you stick with the better manufacturers and no the limitations of your camera's you will be happy with any choice.

I love digital photography and have just started into the digital video taping. I could give you alot more info on digital camera's, but there are some great sites on the internet that evaluate all of the cameras in price ranges to help you out.

IdahoMuley · May 23, 2005

RE: Digital Camcorder for hunting

i was looking in to getting a panosonic but not sure yet. dose any one know how well the image stableizer works in the camera?
Muley Man!

bonefreak · May 27, 2005

RE: Digital Camcorder for hunting

last year my cousin and i took his panasonic digital dvd recorder caribou hunting. even in 10 + mph wind the footage came out great. excellent image stabilizer. i dont know about the other brands.
i was looking into a sony dvd403 but am hung up on the minimal recording time.
i heard from one salesman that at the last electronics techy show the buzz was that every one is moving to the dvds and will start developing more of them. for what its worth?!

FoxFever · May 29, 2005

RE: Digital Camcorder for hunting

Mike, Do yourself a favor and save a few extra $ and buy
a Canon GL2, they are about $1800. on the internet.
It has a 20x optical zoom a flourite lens which is premium.
uses a minidv tape, has zillions of options. It weighs only ounces more than most sony camcorders.

Just check them out before you buy.
Allen
any other questions e-mail me
[email protected]