DC vs DV

[sigsegv]

DW and I went out and bought a digital video camera when we found out we were pregnant. We figured we'd want to take a lot of videos of the baby for both ourselves and my parents who live far away from us. Well, this hasn't happened. I find myself always whipping out the DC whenever we want to capture an image.

Now, we're only a few weeks away from going on our first trip to WDW with our DD and I'm torn on whether or not we take the DV camera. (Babies really add to the amount of stuff you have to drag with you.)

I take quite a few pictures. I've even taken a few fairly low quality movies with my camera. It's kinda nice to go back and see the motion and hear the sounds. I'm just not sure if that's all I want. Heck, I'm pretty sure it's not. Finally, DW just doesn't like using either the DC or the DV, so the onus is on me.

Both the DC and DV camera are fairly bulky, but the DV one is quite a bit more. I feel I should take the DV with me and really try to take some video with it, but I'm willing to bet that we'll look at the photos much more than the video. Plus, all four of us adults (DW's parents are going with us) hate to see (or hear) ourselves in the pictures or video and I feel there's a much greater chance of getting one of us in the shot if it's a video....

Anyway, I guess I'm wondering if any of you have been in the same boat. Do you find yourself biased towards the camera and have you tried forcing yourself to take the video? Have you found you really enjoyed video and don't regret missing the chance to snap a lot of once-in-a-lifetime pictures? (Too bad the picture feature on the DV camera is just 1MP. Heck, both DV and DC have features of the other on them, but neither of them are very good at doing the other's job.)

Maybe I just need to look at it as a "right tool for the right job" kind of thing... Just how would you tell what tool goes with what job?

-sig

 

[Erika]

I love taking video, but when I have to choose, it's always the old stand-by Canon Rebel. Video is fun for your own enjoyment but nobody else really wants to watch more than a few minutes of it (if that) while most people are interested in flipping through a photo album. I also like having pictures to frame- while I can freeze and print pictures from my video, the quality is not as good.

 

[tenchu]

And when your using the camera, you're stucking looking at that for the entire time, where as with the camera you're done in a couple of seconds.

Personally I'd go with the camera, but.....?

 

[Maria]

If I´m correct, you are the one with the 3 months old baby, right? I don´t think he will be making that many moves or chasing a character, or running away from one... so I would go with the DC on this trip.
We have an old videocamera too... We took it once on a family trip to Florida. Nobody wanted to carry it! Then I think we watched the video once and we never used the camera again.

Taking baby stuff with you is already a lot to carry, so go with the digital camera.... it will be easier for you. :animwink:

 

[Yellow Shoes]

It sounds like you aren't really comfortable with the video, so leave it at home.

You will have plenty of stuff to carry.

At 3 months, your daughter won't be moving all that much, so a still camera should be just fine.

I agree with the others--still pictures are more fun to flip through than a video.

And because you can snap a photo in much less time than you can shoot some video, I think you will be able to get more sneaky shots of your camera-shy family with the camera than with the video.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

A hot topic at work we have been debating this at length before being plunged into the fully digital era.

In the long term I can see most of what I do being done using digital video, but just now even using Pro digital cameras film still wins hands down. The quality is better, its quicker ( if you happen to have a mini lab I can proc and print an entire roll in 30 mins with digital you have to check frame by frame).,and you have a fair idea of the results. If you watch a news conference now you can see the guys shooting digital, cause when they take a shot the head s go down as they check the result, a condition we have christned the Nikon nod.

Besides once its on film its around for 100+years how can you store your digital memories?

 

[tenchu]

Originally posted by happy snapper
A hot topic at work we have been debating this at length before being plunged into the fully digital era.

In the long term I can see most of what I do being done using digital video, but just now even using Pro digital cameras film still wins hands down. The quality is better, its quicker ( if you happen to have a mini lab I can proc and print an entire roll in 30 mins with digital you have to check frame by frame).,and you have a fair idea of the results. If you watch a news conference now you can see the guys shooting digital, cause when they take a shot the head s go down as they check the result, a condition we have christned the Nikon nod.

Besides once its on film its around for 100+years how can you store your digital memories?

The profesional speaks. But what about the advantages on the number of photos you can take digital versus film? Whats your views on that?

(And changing the subject slightley, have you ever done any wildlife photography or filming?)

 

[Tramp]

I've taken thousands of pictures and hundreds of hours of video. I hardly ever look at the videos but so what? Consider this before you decide what to do, please.

Too often we poo poo their importance so I always try to remember that the photos or video are for my child. What seems insignificant and boring to me today will mean the world to her 30 or 40 years from now, perhaps showing HER children what Grandpa and Grandma looked like. I can only wish I had video of me as a child...we have some of those old 8mm reels with no sound and my daughter LOVES seeing me as a kid. It's also a way of connecting your kid (and your grandkids) with the past, pointing out family members who have passed.

If I were you, I would take as many photos and videos I could in ANY format...and if you never look at them again it won't matter cuz some day, your child will pick up those photos or that video tape and relive a part of her life she may have long forgotten.

 

[Maria]

Originally posted by Tramp
I've taken thousands of pictures and hundreds of hours of video. I hardly ever look at the videos but so what? Consider this before you decide what to do, please.

Too often we poo poo their importance so I always try to remember that the photos or video are for my child. What seems insignicant and boring to me today will mean the world to her 30 or 40 years from now, perhaps showing HER children what Grandpa and Grandma looked like. I can only wish I had video of me as a child...we have some of those old 8mm reels with no sound and my daughter LOVES seeing me as a kid. It's also a way of connecting your kid (and your grandkids) with the past, pointing out family members who have passed.

If I were you, I would take as many photos and videos I could in ANY format...and if you never look at them again it won't matter cuz some day, your child will pick up those photos or that video tape and relive a part of her life she may have long forgotten.

Wow! That felt like a rock hitting my head! You are sooo right! My mom has one of those 8mm reels of her wedding and she is gonna have them put into a "normal" tape so we can watch it again. She also has slides with pics of us when we were little and she used to set a "theater" for us to watch them. We loved them!
My sister dances ballet and she has the videos of her presentations too. I also have some videos of my school projects that I made. I never watch them anymore, but I would love my kids to see how gorgeous their mom looked and how good she was in front of a camera! LOL!! :lol: :animwink:

Sooo.... carry the freakin´camera so you can do the same in a few years! Thanks for the reminder Tramp! :kiss:

 

[Erika]

Originally posted by Tramp
I've taken thousands of pictures and hundreds of hours of video. I hardly ever look at the videos but so what? Consider this before you decide what to do, please.

Too often we poo poo their importance so I always try to remember that the photos or video are for my child. What seems insignicant and boring to me today will mean the world to her 30 or 40 years from now, perhaps showing HER children what Grandpa and Grandma looked like. I can only wish I had video of me as a child...we have some of those old 8mm reels with no sound and my daughter LOVES seeing me as a kid. It's also a way of connecting your kid (and your grandkids) with the past, pointing out family members who have passed.

If I were you, I would take as many photos and videos I could in ANY format...and if you never look at them again it won't matter cuz some day, your child will pick up those photos or that video tape and relive a part of her life she may have long forgotten.

SO very true!!!

All my old stuff was on Super 8. A few years back I switched them all over to VHS with music that was popular during each year. When I was a kid, my family would set up the projector and screen, and it was a big deal to watch all the old movies (with popcorn, of course).

Tramp is right- don't underestimate the power of home video years down the road

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

That was the point I was trying to make. long term storage of digital media is fraught with pit falls. At a recent visit to the archive of the Imperaial War Museum we were told that was something they were strugling with. They could produce glass plate from WW1 but stuff from the Balkans was already degrading and because it was digital no master existed all theyhad was a print. And prints from a desk top printer do not have the same quality of light fastness ( they fade quicker) as conventional, and B/W lasts better than colour. Also CD roms are only guranteed for 4-5 years depending on manufacturer so if you are archiving its going to be an ongoing process. As for video as im mainly a stills man I dont know what our video teams are doing in the long term but just now they shoot on digital then make a master copy then duplicate copys from that so that someting is always in almost pristine condition, but remember video is only the baby on the block who knows what problems may occur long term.

Tenchu as for the number of shots you can get theres a down side, think what you loose if the card is corrupted or in my case whean some one knicks it 3 days worth of shots from our Nov trip.
We all thought like you when we first started using digital but as the year has progressed we have encountered more and more problems. In the area of news gathering it works to a point because the resolution of a printing press is not so high and the immediacy of the result means it can be at the picture desk within minutes. however recent history is being recorded with wax like skin tones magenta cast and loss of detail in the highlights, not my idea of quality, though it will improve.

As for wildlife photography, most of the animals I record are of the human variety