New Camera

Morning all, some will know we are going to England in July for holidays. We are going to 'Hampton Court' to have a look. They are looking at the house, I am going for the 37 acres of gardens(with roses). There are other places as well, Carole's family live in England(Aylesbury, Bucks) which is handy.
I have arranged to have a indepth look around Harkness Roses whilst there. Last time we went I was privileged to get into David Austins breeding glasshouses. I only had a digital camera at that time and am thinking one should get a movie camera(camcorder type) so I can capture substantially more and "maybe" make a short video(youtube) of it and eliminating a lot of single photos.
So the question is"What sort do I want ? ", I do not know is the answer. So the question is, something simple, like myself, not expensive, compact, easy to use, nothing flash, any suggestions please.

I suppose a question would be.....how much filming do you want to do.....will you only use it for the trip or do you intend to use it back at home........most compact cameras have a movie mode and all you need to do is put a larger sd card in them......

Once I start I might do more John

I use Sony handycams for my work. I have six of them. I buy the high definition, hard drive and we buy bigger batteries that can last about 8 hrs continuous record. The files are big and high quality. We have taken excellent stills shots from the digital videos. I shop around to get a good price and I buy online. The last model i bought has a built in projector, which we haven,t used yet but may come in use this spring when we have to work away. Last year I paid about $1250.00 for one unit and I will buy another two this year and expect to pay around $800 for the same model. I can send you more details if you like. I will be taking at least four units with me to Africa this July as they are lightweight. I will be still taking my SLR camera and lenses as the SLR is an easier option for a lot of single shots.

A bit out of my league Harriet, lets talk more basic stuff, have fun in Africa.

I will... I will be in Tanzania for a month.. I hope to get the wild floral visitors to Santapaulia ionantha (African violet)... providing Colobus monkeys don't nick my gear

Friendly fellas, aren't they..........


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Not many suggestions on a "simple" camera.

did you want it waterproof?

No John, "simple", I do not dive like some others.

That's ok....I just know a simple one that is also waterproof.....

I'd love to give a suggestion but I discovered the lens was dodgy on my "point and shoot" once I got over there
Hampton Court Palace is fantastic. It really needs two days - one for the buildings and one for the gardens (which I didn't even get to..)
Looking forward to seeing your pictures, in any case, David!
Just bear in mind that video is all very well but pictures are easier to post on here for us.

Wendy, the other three can do the house thing, I will do the gardens and yes we have the alternative plan on two days. I was thing of both photos and cam thing.

My son has a JVC that he purchased a couple of years ago which is pretty good. Most of the digital recorders are excellent and the prices are down quite a bit these days. You can get some decent ones for $250-300 dollars. Had a bit of a laugh the other day when the local discount warehouse had them for $19.99 the other day.

You could always go for a Gopro and you can attach it to your hat and forget about it.

Hah! I'm a bit of a castle-phile so let's just say the buildings were more important to me. I'd just seen the gardens at Versailles so didn't feel *desperate* to see gardens.

Wendy, the state rooms are open at Buckingham Palace whilst we are there so it is on the see calendar, is there anything you would like me to ask the Queen when we visit her.
If I had that on Wendy it could/might be embarrassing around the public.
Thanks Gary that is more realistic price range for me as an entry type.
John, what sort of price are the ones that are waterproof ?

Dave, I bought this camera two years ago and it cost $299 plus the sd card was extra. The camera is a waterproof dual camera HD...ie: photos and videos
It is a Sanyo VPC-CA100 Xacti
another bonus was I bought it from Target...

It appears it is no longer available, John.

the camera could be supercede by a newer model.....

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I don't know if you have bought a camera yet roseman. anyways here is my tip.
I did a lot of research on digital cameras, looking for a camera that was a quality brand, can be carried easily, powerful zoom, stability control, good colour reproduction, good built in video, wide angle lens, etc. It needed to have all the good stuff but not cost an arm or a leg. With my research I've found that some of the expensive cameras can't match the one I bought.
Along with the camera I went for a 32gig Class 10 memory card, this class is the best for videos and it will give you from memory about 5000 photos on the best resolution.
It is selling for around $200, how ever I went to office works and they were happy to price match with australian online stores, they just add what the online store was charging for postage.
I found an online store selling for $98 + postage, I paid $115 all up.

Panasonic Lumix DMC SZ1

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we have one as those as well , paul...great camera till we got the big cannon

How many do you have John.
Thanks Paulh, I will look at Officeworks site tonight.

about 5...or is that 6.....need to check......but I love my mark 7.......fantastic shots....

Oh dear, poor Wendy. As I come from London many a summer Sunday afternoon we would go to Hampton Court gardens and take a picnic.
As we didn't get there on our last holiday David hasn't been. So it is very much on the agenda this time. Hampton Court Palace plus the gardens. Then on the 10th July we have tickets for Hampton Court garden show, it covers over 31 acres and is bigger and better than Chelsea. This is something we are really looking forward to.

neptune wrote:about 5...or is that 6.....need to check......but I love my mark 7.......fantastic shots....

What is a "mark 7"