Best Camcorders For New Parents | Camcorder HQ's Holiday Buyer's Guide
It seems like nearly every moment in an infant's life is a moment worth capturing on video. New parents will want a camcorder with a quality image, lots of recording space, and a long battery life so that they don't miss any of those little moments. Here are some good choices:
| The Canon Vixia HF200 has been a top-seller all year, and with good reason. It offers a full set of features at a decent price. This 1080p HD camcorder is just as light as any pocket camcorder, and the traditional hand-strap grip allows for comfortable shooting for hours on end. Sharing is easy, whether it's quick uploads to the Web or onto a big-screen TV through an HDMI connection. The Pre-Record feature automatically captures and saves the three seconds prior to the moment you actually hit record, so those fleeting little moments won't slip away. This is a best buy, right at today's sweet spot of form, functionality, and price. | |
| High-def is everywhere now, but if standard definition video is alright with you, the Sony Handycam DCR-DVD850 is a solid camera at a very nice price. This hybrid records to several formats, including DVD, so that you can have an instant hard copy of the priceless times (and those techno-luddite relatives can watch without a computer, too). This Handycam may not be at the forefront of the marketplace, but it's a dependable camera that offers a familiar format for many. | |
| Want lots of built-in memory? The 1080p Panasonic HS300 comes with a mammoth 120GB hard drive as well as an SD/SDHC card slot for even more storage. It's pricey, but it's marketed as a "semi-professional" model, as it allows for a significant degree of manual control along with the impressive automatic functions. It's built to last as well, so it'll be around even for the first soccer game or ballet recital. In short, it's a great choice for those that take their camcorders seriously. |
