Well folks I need some help again. Next year I will be in Africa May through August helping a PH friend of mine. I have just found out that one of my big responsibilites will be to film most of the hunts. So....I need to get a pretty decent quality video camera that has great zoom and probably stabalizing capabilities. I don't think I need a $4K camera, but probably need something a little better than the average around the house type. Who knows....If some of the footage turns out good it might get reproduced. Anyway, all suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

I am in the same boat as you. I am going to SA next May and I am researching video cameras also. Here are some links to help in your search:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Beginers-Camcorder-Buying-Guide.htm
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php

I just had to purchase two digital video cameras for work and one for the family. The first question after setting a budget is which format you like - full digital with memory card, or digital tape (Mini DV). The benefit of the digital tape is long term storage. Memory cards must be dumped to disk drive storage unless you want to invest thousands on memory cards.

Once you have this decided, then you can use the links that RAC gave you. I used the same data for my decisions. I purchased three different cameras - all 3 are MiniDV tape.

My favorite so far is the Panasonic PV-GS120. Great video and very good still picture quality. I have only used it a few times, however, I am impressed. I have purchased several cameras through www.buydig.com. Great service and generally the best overall prices.

RAC: Thanks a million. I will give that web site a good look over. But, if there is someone who has had hands on experience with a video that really functions I would still appreciate your personal knowledge and reference to a specific camera.

Zero: That's what I'm talking about!! Right off the bat I know it's the MiniDV that I'll be looking for. Otherwise it's new computer stuff and baskets of memory cards. I hope some full time videographer sees this post also. Thanks.

I don't mind spending over $400. In fact, if I can get what I need, I don't mind going up to $1,500.00

I've had a JVC MiniDV for a while now and really like the MiniDV.

If it were me I'd go with something that had a high optical zoom and was MiniDV. Optical zoom is what is going to give you clear pictures from a distance. As soon as a camera goes into digital zoom the game is over and the picture starts to degrade quite a bit.

My Dad just bought a Canon GL2 and it is really nice.

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=114&modelid=7512

I just did a quick search and found one for $1374

I'd also get a set of electronic muffs so you don't flinch at the sound of the shot.

If you want to keep it under $400, I would recommend you look at the Panasonic PV-GS14.

Yes - That is why digital MiniDV is the way to go. You get the best advantages of both tape and digital formats. You download via USBII connectors and PC software. In addition, most MiniDV also have a pretty good still digital picture capability.

Quick question...can you "download" from the MiniDV cassettes to a PC?

As Zero Drift said, yes you can. I'm not familiar with non MiniDV digital camcorders, but if you have a 1394 port you can download. Actually for my camera the USB is only to download pictures and the 1394(firewire) is for video.

If you have a capture card you can down load any format of any camcorder you can get your hands on and put it on your PC. Quality won't be as good loading VHS, but you can definetly do it.

There are quite a few video editing packages out there for your pc. From what I've seen you get the biggest bang for the buck out of Pinnacle Studio 9.

P.S. Make sure you get a polarized lense to bring with you.

If you want I can send you a DVD that I threw together of 2 years of hunting and you can see where things went right in getting footage and where things go wrong. Good tool to learn from others mistakes.

You guys are ABSOLUTELY GREAT! Your are really helping me! I have called so many places, and most people seem to know NOTHING about choosing the right video package to make a decent film. Gene....sent you a PM via your home e-mail.

I am now on my third video camera for use with African hunting. I would not presume to advise you what to do, but I can give you some tips on what is helpful in a camera and you can check those available for these features. I have also tried all of the better editing software out there, and have reached some definite conclusions about that too.

I started out with full sized VHS and found the camera too large. We ended up using my brother's mini-VHS format camera our entire first trip. Small is good. 8mm and 8mmDigital are light years ahead of VHS. I have no experience with the new mini digital format.

Simple is good. You will be hunting, so someone else will have to use the camera. It must be simple and intuitive in its use. It should have a color view finder and easily permit manual focus because you frequently are shooting pictures of animals that are behind something or in the middle of brush. If you luck out, your ph will be a good videographer, and use the camera just like a pair of bino's.

It needs to have a recharging system that will permit its batteries to be charged in the vehicle or from a generator as well as wall sockets. You will need African wall adapters, and they are not like European. Cigarette lighters are the same the world over! I'd carry a cigarette lighter female connector that can be wire into the battery because some jeeps don't have them or are used for the ph's radio.

Your equipment is used hard in Africa. It is a very dusty invironment. It needs to be mechancially and electronically simple. I lost sound for most of a trip because a seed pod was driven into the secondary audio port cutting off the onboard mic. Keep all your holes covered is good advice in Africa! I would choose a tape system over a DVD type system because they appear more robust at this point.

A very high optical zoom is desirable, and electronic zoom is poop.

Of the editing software I've used Roxio, Adobe and Pinnacle, and Pinnacle v9 with the corrections is the best. I don't have the upgrade yet, but plan to get it too. The documentation is readable and understandable for one who is not a graduate of the FSU film school. Pinnacle has nice features and is relatively easy to use. It is intuitive. It has nice audio features to include a routine that will generate music and fit it to your film sequence. It has pretty neat applications like slo-mo or what-ever-the-opposite-of-slo-mo is. I used this on occassion to make the animals walk faster to the water hole, which is not the most exciting thing in the world.

Pinnacle will burn your DVD for you in the end with little problem, and the resultant video and audio fidelity is incredible. This maybe the most complex and the least intuitive part of the operation, but once it is set up and once you've been thru it, it is pretty straight forward. Rendering takes a relatively long time the first time you burn a disk, but copying a rendered disk is relatively quick. This is a time to read the instructions and take notes.

The computer you edit on should have two large hard drives (at least one an 80 gig), a fast processor, 512 RAM, and a video card that will let you digitize your old VHS tapes if you have any of them. They tell me there is a new Intel processor that is the thing for this, the Ambion or something like that. A gig of memory is nice if there is a sale. Put your program software on one drive and save your material on the other drive.

When you start to do video, shut off everything, including your screen saver, starting with your internet connection and your anti-virus before you run your edit program. And be sure to download all the updates to your software!

This is not the full monty, but it will save you about two grand and a year of mistakes! Ku-dude

Also, your hard drive should have an 8mb cache and be at least 7200rpm.

I agree with everything Ku-Dude said, escpecially the manual focus. You don't want to be trying to take footage of a Zebra behind some brush and have the camera focusing on a twig 10' in front of you.

Another nice thing about Pinnacle 9 is that it can remove some of the shake that you may get in your footage.

Ku-Dude: I sent you a PM. Thanks.