Shopping for a digital video camera

It’s time to replace the Sony camcorder and I welcome suggestions and advice from one and all. Here are the features I think I want:

  • Digital. Records to SD or SDHC cards* MPEG4 (H.264)
  • Recording time: 30-40 min
  • Accepts external mic
  • Can mount on tripod
  • Smaller the better
  • Firewire? Why would I need this if I can just pull the file across to the Mac?

If you know of, or spot a camera with these features, holler at me. I’m open on price if it has all or most of these features.

3 thoughts on “Shopping for a digital video camera

  1. Thanks for the suggestion, Andy. Sounds like a killer device. But –as you know– I’m just not a phone kinda guy. And the external mic is a must for what I have in mind.

  2. Why not consolidate all of your mobile technology and get yourself a Nokia N95? It:
    – Records digitally to microSD cards, max capacity 2gb, recording time over 2 hours MPEG full screen NTSC at 30fps
    – 5 Megapixel still camera
    – Don’t know about the external mike, but it’s a telephone among other things so I’m sure something can be arranged
    – has direct video output, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0, infrared, 802.11g wifi, GPRS/HSDPA data transfer and a cherry on top,
    – It’s teeeeeeeeny tiny, weighs 120 grams
    – It’s also a mobile web browser, media player, PDA, handheld GPS with live-updating map, videoconferencing appliance, runs Skype or other VOIP services, 3D gaming platform, mobile file server, runs Symbian OS (which means you can load other programs on it) and oh yeah is a cell phone as well.
    The only thing it doesn’t do is record HD video, which admittedly might be a dealbreaker, but other than that it’s the only device an alpha geek needs in his pocket.

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