camcorder ??

[tonyd]

Looking at sony Handycams, and wondering if flash or hard drive is the way to go? Anyone with input?

[ZX-12R]

There are tradeoffs to each option. Hard drives offer longer record times but consume more power, are heavier, and aren't as rugged as solid state media. Flash based cameras use less power, are light weight, and are very reliable but you can't store as much on them.

I personally like flash based camcorders. The one I have lets me hook up an external hard drive and offload videos from the camera without involving a computer.

[rice_rocket]

I just got a panasonic hand cam for the new baby.... it's Solid state with built in memory, and an SD slot. Apparently it can do 6 hrs of full HD recording on the built in 16gb of memory. I've never come close to that so far.

They also said to me: Panasonic has the best image stabilizer, Sony has the best lenses ... so go figure. I got a smashing deal on mine because I got lucky and B&H had a sale. I saved $80 on it, 4 days later the price went back up to $300.

[tonyd]

Thanks guys, going with Sony HD solid state 32g built in yada yada yada, anything would be better than the 12 year old junk we have.