I'm shopping for a handheld video camera. What does fluther recommend?

I’m wondering why you don’t just get a high end point and shoot, because then you’d be able to take photos and video….

@lilikoi His budget is $150.

@jctennis123
I’ve been very pleased with my little Kodak HD for $150. Great walk around, really good microphone… just not so good on battery life. Takes AA’s though so you can get them anywhere or use rechargables without having to buy expensive batts.

But for the SLR gig… THIS is the one, THIS is the one, THIS is the wu-uh-uhnnnn. Ahw THIS is the one, THIS is the one I’ve waited fo-o-o-or.

Stone Roses anyone?

btw… the lcd screen on the Kodak is way better than the flip… bigger & sharper

@lilikoi Because his/her price limit is $150.

You should really take a look at the Kodak Zi8. It’s a bit over your price limit by about 20$ but it’s really amazing. You should take a look.

I love my Flip. I got it off of Woot. They will have them again. If you can, I’d wait for that.

Whatever you do, do NOT use normal batteries. Digital cameras go through normal batteries way too fast. Get one of those packs of rechargeable batteries that come with a recharger. It should be about $20 or $25.

I have a old Flip and love it. The quality is pretty good and the batteries last a long time.

Here is a video taken with it. vid

And that is the old non HD one. They are nice and you can go from WTF to shooting video in two seconds. You flip a switch and hit a button.

I have a flip cam and I’m happy with it.

I have a good Sony camera, but I’m afraid to take it any place. So I bought an Aiptek 720P-HD a few months ago at Target for about $100 that I’m not afraid to just drop in my pocket and take it with me wherever. The Aiptek is so tiny and fits in my shirt pocket, and is so light that I don’t even feel it. It does flip open and has a LCD screen so you can see what the camera sees as you’re taking a photo or shooting a video. The downside is that because it is so light, it is very sensitive to motion— you have to hold it so steady or your photos and videos come out blurry, which isn’t a problem with a heavier camera.

Check out demo videos shot by people on YouTube for the Flip MinoHD, the Kodak Zi8, and the DXG 125-VR (the maker is dxgusa.com). All three are I the same price range but have different quality for video under different conditions.