Any recommendations?I have a Nikon D 300 which I will work with most of the time but it does not take video.My wife likes the idea of sound coupled with the images.Are there any good ones with a powerful enough digital zoom?

I have the DX200 - How does the 300 compare?

That depends on how much you have to spend and what quality of image you require. There are many relatively HD camcorders around now my recommendation would be Canon as they mostly have a 20 times optical zoom,(sony has 12), and I believe that the Image Stabilisation system is better. Sound can be a problem because of the constant chatter on vehicles, whatever you do get a wind shield to reduce wind noise and turn on the built in wind noise reduction.

I would also like a recommendation for a video camera for my upcoming safari. I'm leaving on February 23rd, so I have to act fast!

This is my first safari and hopefully just the first of many. We are going to Tanzania, with Kiliwarriors (Ngorongoro Crater, Loliondo, Serengeti and Lake Manyara).

Although my Panasonic TZ3 takes video, I thought a separate video cam would be fun.

Here are my questions:

Some of the Sony and Panasonic cameras I have been looking at at B&H (I live near the store) have 24x to 32x zoom. Is that real? I would love the ability to have that much zoom but are the new image stabilization systems good enough so that the images at least be recognizable?

I was hoping to spend under $500, and so I wasn't looking at the HD cams. Also, is that realistic?

And last, which memory system do you think is best? Tape or memory cards? I've heard pros and cons for both.

I would love some help, this site has been so helpful to me on so many other issues, but I haven't seen much information on video cameras.

Roberta

Remember to find out how you are going to EDIT those videos. Some camera media is easier to work with than others and some are very difficult.

We use a Canon S2 for videos even though it was sold as a still photo camera. The videos it makes are 640x480 pixels, 30 fps, and in the motion jpeg format MJPEG or seems to me to be same as AVI. (The video files have an AVI extension). Anyway, easy to download off of the camera memory cards and edit in a PC.

regards - tom

For zoom over 12 you will likely need a tripod or some support.

cary999 and napamatt,
thank you both for your helpful suggestions.

i just bought the Panasonic GS83. Now I'm trying to figure out how to use it (the editing will come later).
Roberta