camcorder (1 Viewer)

andy said:

Can you recommend a camcorder to take good still shots with and normal camcorder use

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I wish I could. This is my own personal opinion, but I have found that even the cheapest of digital cameras can take much better stills than most digital camcorders. For about a $1000 (USD) I purchased both mid range digital camera and mid range digital camcorder. The camera was a Canon Powershot G3 and the camcorder was a Canon ZR50MC. The nice thing about them was they both used the same type battery, so I instantly had backup batteries. Note I said "was" in my decription. Both of them were stolen by airline baggage clerks this past Sunday :C and so far, all I'm being told is "sorry, you're out of luck, we're not responsible for video and camera equipment".

Hello Peter, I've just read your post and it answered a couple of questions I have.. particularly part one, about the zooms.. I posted a couple of questions I had in the Olympus forum (I've just bought a C750 and been disappointed with the zoom, but very happy with the camera overall) and want to buy a camcorder with as good a zoom as I can afford with the capability to attach an external mike for recording birdsong (thinking hard about Canon 650i/750i + directional mike).. The question I had about the zoom was that at first I thought I had a defective camera.. I got out my old Pentax 35mm slr, attached my old Tamron 90-210 zoom and pushed the zoom out to max, to see what it captured. Put that down and then picked up the Oly C-750 and pushed its 10x zoom to max telephoto (supposedly 380mm) and you know what? The difference between the two was minimal. Even now I compare the two and refuse to believe that the Oly represents a true 380mm in 35mm terms. I couldn't believe that the claimed 380mm on the digicam was only marginally more powerful than my prehistoric tamron/pentax combination. I was baffled, particularly because I'd read so many reviews raving about the power of the zoom (up here in Scotland couldn't get my hands on a C-750 anywhere to test it out, so bought it on the net on a wing and a prayer) but decided my expectations had been far too high and have since ordered a 1.7x teleconverter in the hope that this will get me a bit closer to the birds in my garden, if nowhere else (but, god, it's costing..). Wonder if you've got any more thoughts on this zoom bsiness..

Tim Long