birds
Jacquie
I have been using camcorders to record birds for over four years.
The first was an analog Sony 8mm.
Two years ago I upgraded to a Sony DCR TRV-340.
What attracted me to it was its 25x optical zoom which made it
unnecessary to use a screw in adapter to increase the focal length.
Whenever I travel I usually use the Sony camcorder and it does
double duty as a camcorder for home video and a recorder for bird
video and audio.
This model is no longer listed on the Sony web pages, and the newer
model of 8mm seems to be the TRV-460 which only has a 20x optical
zoom.
features that I rely on:
plays my old anolog 8mm tapes
has plug n power for my microphones
has firewire connection for capturing video
has USB connection to access digital stills and audio
can choose between 12 and 16 bit audio
(16 bit creates duplicate stereo channels)
nightshot to view low light situations
digital pass through that lets you use it as a video
digitizer for other video sources.
Memory Stick to record video stills.
8mm camcorders are not as compact as the newer models but I think
mine will fill my requirements for a few more years.
Here is an example of a recording taken with the camera and a
homemade parabola with Radio a shack stereo lavalier microphone.
http://gk.akwebb.net/birds/sparrow/sparrow.html
I paid around $550 for it two years ago. I am sure its still
available
through dealers on the web.
Greg Kunkel
--- jacquelinebittner <> wrote:
>
> We are planning a family vacation and we also do a lot of
> birdwatching. We wanted to buy a new video camera that was digital
>
> off (and analog on to put old videos into new digital format) and
> would also do nice bird videos with accompanying sounds. Our
> budget
> is under $1,000. Can anyone tell me how much optical zoom I need,
> or
> any features to watch out for. Also, if anyone has a model that
> they
> have been pleased with, I would most appreciate a recommendation.=20
>
> Also, has the proposed new Minidisk recorder which is digital off
> been released yet?
>
> Thanks again for a terrific e-group.=20
>
> Jacquie Bittner
>
>
>
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--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
>
>
> "Microphones are not ears,
> Loudspeakers are not birds,
> A listening room is not nature."
> Klas Strandberg
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>=20
>
>
>
>
=09=09
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