Do I take a video camera to Italy?
 

We leave for our 2 week Venice/Florence/Rome trip which includes 2 day trips into the hilltowns of Tuscany in 3 1/2 weeks. I like to take pictures and video when we travel, but am an auto-control type of photographer, not a pro. I am taking my very compact digital camera, which I find easy to use, and which also takes decent video. I was planning on buying a new, very compact camcorder (having given my existing one to my college student daughter to use at school). But as I go through the agonies of trying to pack light, I am thinking that I should forget the video camera, and just use my digital camera instead. To make this practical, I would buy a few extra SD cards to hold the videos, since they use up so much space. What have the rest of you done? And what size memory cards should I buy to hold the video? Costco has a special - 3 HP cards, each 2 GB, for $40.

Any photographers/videographers out there who can answer this question?

why not take the video camera if you enjoy watching the videos later? I have some from trips of 20 years ago and at times the family gets together and has a kick out of watching them.

I would agree with SeaUrchin, (not just because I love her screenname). IF you watch them at home later through the years, I would bring it. Unfortunately I didn't bring one on my trip to France and Italy because I thought it would be too cumbersome. But once I was there I totally regretted not having it! I did take tons of pictures but I wish I had both.

ditto here love2sing. I was packed and had way too much stuff - was bursting at the seams and ended up leaving it behind. I regretted it on the trip.

Considering that there are now camcorders scarcely bigger than an iPod, I don't see how it conflicts that much with packing light.

Best wishes,

Rex

So you don't think I can get away with the video feature on my digital camera? It would be easier on our walks through the cities to just carry one camera instead of a camera plus a camcorder. Especially since I imagine that having one in the backpack is an invitation to losing it to a thief. It's just me doing the photos/videos - my DH doesn't usually do it, so it's not like he would do one while I did the other.

It sounds like you don't want to take both, so I suppose you shouldn't.

If I had had a camcorder for my honeymoon to Europe, I would have left all my clothes just to bring it... well, just brought ONE pair of shoes! lol :) Bring it, you will never regret having access to those kind of fantastic memories!

butnotrmpt- the question is, for how long will your camera actually video? My camera does video, but it is limited to 30 seconds. You should check that out. :)

Like Rex says, the new camcorders are very small. I've taken a much bigger 8mm vcr to Europe and have great memories. The background sound and/or your commentary comes in with a camcorder. I'm thinking of buying the Canon HG10 AVCHD 40GB High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom for my trip next month. Does anyone have experience with it?

butnotrmpt: <i>So you don't think I can get away with the video feature on my digital camera?</i>

Depends on the size (pixels) at which it shoots video at. My Canon SD750 digital camera does only 640x480, which may not look great when you play it on TV but is just fine if you are going to send YouTube-type videos to friends, etc. (which is what I did with the videos I shot with it in Italy last fall).

I guess you can answer this question easily yourself: shoot some video with your existing digicam. Is the quality good enough on TV? If not - and you want to view your Italy videos on TV - then you need to get a camcorder.

By the way, the cost of 2GB SD cards is dropping through the floor. I'm seeing them on special (no-name brands) for under $20, even under $10. I'd probably get 4GB cards (make sure your camera can handle them first!) at this point, just because video eats up space quickly. Getting an extra battery might not be a bad idea, either, if your camera takes a custom battery as my SD750 did.

I brought my video camcorder to Italy and was so happy that I did. After the trip, I edited and added features and made a &quot;movie&quot; which I copied for my traveling companions.

Fortunately, one of my companions brought her digital camera, so we split the responsibility.

However, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES would I carry either camera in a backpack. I had a nice-sized bag which I carried cross-wise over my shoulder with the camera zippered inside securely when not in use. I was pickpocketed in Rome (fortunately was prepared and did not lose anything of value) so I know it does happen.

P.S. I actually caught the pickpocketing episode on my video and the pickpocket herself as she was making her getaway. It's the funniest part of my movie.

For Christmas I got a &quot;Flip&quot; Video camera by Pure Digital that I plan on taking to Europe in September. You can check it out at www.theflip.com. It is smaller than a camera, has a USB port attached to it so you can download directly to a computer and comes in two gigabyte sizes (don't remember them).

Have fun.

Lulu

Sarge 56 - I know I have taken more than 2 minutes of video at a time - I think my limitations have to do with the size of the memory card more than anything else. At a big party, my 1 GB SD card was full after about 6 - 10 minutes of video and a bunch of pictures. The video was surprisingly decent, considering that it was done on a small digital camera, and the audio wasn't bad either.

Seaurchin is right - I really would like to just stick with my camera and have one less thing to deal with, especially since I already know how to use it. But I am keeping an open mind, checking out camcorders on line and as I shop, looking for something good that is $400 or less.

I have not regretted bringing a camcorder on trips. The thing that really does it for me more than the video is the audio. I really enjoy hearing the ambient sounds of the the streets, markets, church bells, trams going by,and those funny Italian ambulance sirens.

I have always taken a hand held video cam of some sort with me for the past 7 years. I hate to admit -but I only occasionally watch the videos. Why? Not sure. It's easier to flip through digital photographs. I enjoy the video in a different way than photographs - it's a totally different feel. Good photographs still have more umphh than video.

butnotrmpt, remember, too, that you may not need to buy that many cards. If you get free internet at any of your hotels (or even stopping into a cafe) you should be able to upload them to a personal photo website like Shutterfly. Remove them from the card and you will have plenty of room. My daughter did this on our recent trip to France/Italy. Every night, the first thing she did was go through all the pics and dump the duplicates or bad shots. Then she'd head out to the free computer in our hotel lobby and upload them. Clean card in the a.m. :)

We did not have video, but truthfully, it is kind of fun recalling our conversation, etc. Plus, I did a trip report for this site, which (I have to say) makes an excellent &quot;reminder&quot; of our trip to go with the photos! :)

Have fun!!!

PS Uploading them every day or two also reduced her stress level over losing the cards (or getting pickpocketed or robbed) and, thus, all our vacation photos! :)

Hi B,

&gt; I am taking my very compact digital camera, which I find easy to use, and which also takes decent video.

That's all I take.

((I))

Sarge 56 - I've never uploaded my photos and video to anything other than my own computer, using Kodak's software. What is the learning curve on using one of the online sites?

Ira - I've frequently traveled with my video camera, but sometimes I find that I'm losing my enjoyment of the scene because I'm focusing my attention on the little lcd display instead. And I've never bothered to edit anything I've shot. Truthfully, even though I couldn't edit out bad shots before printing, I sort of prefer the days of film, where I actually got hard copies of everything. My photo albums definitely get looked at - my computer based stuff, not so much.

Andrew - I'm going to have to dig out my instruction book and make sure I can use a big SD card. But I sort of like the idea of the 2 GB cards - then, if I'm not uploading them and erasing the pictures as I go, I can store each filled card somewhere other than in my camera, so it is less likely to be lost.

This forum has definitely helped me to get my thoughts in order on this (and many other) issues. Thanks.

This is not a question any one can answer for you, there is not a yes or no answer that fits everyone.

How much do you enjoy taking &amp; then rewatching vacation videos? If that's important then buy the new compact camcorder and take both cameras. Not so important, just go with your digital.

What I have always done... is travel with a couple 'disposables' and get great shots, but that wouldn't make most people happy I'm guessing.

suze- actually, I took disposables, including a panoramic disposable, on my trip to Ireland a number of years ago. The pictures are amazing! I have real photo-bugs that look at them and cannot believe they were from a disposable. Technology is a great thing! :)

butnotrmpt- I am pretty sure it is not difficult to upload your photos to something like Shutterfly. (My daughter did all the work.) You should sign up for a free account today and &quot;practice&quot; uploading before your trip. :) You might also consider loading them to a temp file on the computer you're at, then email them to yourself and then delete temp file. :)

If you upload your pictures to a website as a way of off-loading your memory cards, please be careful that you can 1) get your original pictures BACK from the website if need be and 2) that they are the original size, not reduced for the web!

If you have a full 2GB memory card, it would take quite a long time (probably hours) to upload all pictures to a website, but if you have only a few dozen pictures it probably wouldn't take too long. Uploading your pics to a photo website as you travel is a great way to backup (since memory cards can be lost, accidentially erased, go corrupt, etc.), but honestly I still wouldn't erase the pictures from your original memory cards. Since I have gotten a couple of 2GB SD cards for $10-ish it's not really worth not having a few of them.

Well, we have been traveling in Europe for the last 19 months and have only used one camera. I do almost all of the shots and my hubby jokes that I should be buried with the camera in my hand as that is its normal position.

I actually broke our other camera in one of our first days here, so this was not fully by choice.

What I was left with was a small video camera that also takes pictures. It has worked out quite well and I even get lots of compliments on my photos from our website. ( www.soultravelers3.com)

I have become quite good at shooting both video and pictures back and forth at interesting points.

I know others who just use their small camera for video. That is all where the hell is matt used for his famous video.

We are REALLY glad that we have both video and stills. We love imovie for editing video and have started uploading things to youtube which is fun.

Like someone said, there is no one right way.

I take tons of videos and stills. With that said, while I have an older, but very high end 3ccd video camera, my Olympus digital takes far better shots in many situations.

The advantage to the video is that it has a much bigger zoom, works great in extremely low-light situations and I can talk about what is going on.

I can put the digital in my fanny pack and I carry the video. It works pretty well doing both. As others have said, it is kind of up to what you prefer.

Recently I took my first trip with no camera at all. It was quite liberating!
:-)

Suze - that is my feeling re the video camera. I always feel that I am missing the bigger picture so to speak when I am taking the video and looking at the little screen. At this point, I have pretty much made my decision to just take my small, digital Kodak camera, with extra SD cards, to use for pictures and possibly some video, plus a disposable panoramic camera for those shots that really need it. I took a couple of spectacular shots in Bryce Canyon using one of those disposables.