Take CAMCORDER or not?

Joph

I just wonder if I should take a camcorder with me, or not.

I want to know if here are people, who walked around in India with a camcorder. How did you feel about it?
On one hand I like to take it, because I'm fond of filming. On the other hand I'm afraid it will create more stress in me not getting robbed, or throat cut, and keeping it safe all the time.
A normal digital camera might be more comfortable, but has much less quality regarding video options.
Like to read about experiences of people travelling on their own, and carrying a camcorder.

Thanks, Joph.

SteamBuff

I took a camcoder with me on my last visit in February 07, I found that I was seeing India through a view-finder ..... so I put it away after a couple of days and never used it again.

So if you want to experience India then I would say NOT.

but saying that, if you have been to India lots of times and your sole purpose for going is to film then OK!

Dave

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Darmabum

Whatever perceived and preconceived hassles that may (or may not) arise will be more than compensated for by having it.

India is such a hard place to capture . . . in words . . . still photos . . . having the added dimensions of movement and sound brings more of it back.

I took mine last year during a six month trip to Varanasi. Shot about 14 hours of tape. Made a 23 minute movie, soundtrack by my flute teacher. Of anything I've ever brought back from India, the movie is my favorite thing.

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Nick-H

Take it

For me the camcorder was a bit of a gadget too far: I never really got comfortable with it. I wish I'd bought a digital still camera several years before I did!

But you are obviously comfortable with it, and I've no doubt you'll get some great pictures.

Theft of such things is not such an issue in India, unless you are very careless. A moment's inattention to an expensive piece of kit can mean its loss anywhere in the world: here I have more often found people running after me, "Sir! You left this behind, sir!".

An easily possible side effect of carrying any camera anywhere or to any event. Sometimes I've been glad to realise I'd left the camera behind, and could just get on with watching and seeing!

Takes a little discipline, I guess

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spicetrekker

It is a question of personal choice - I prefer stills. But having said that I dont think carrying one will put any undue and additional stress on you

Lord Average

It all depends on how much you want to look at your footage of India when you get back home !

I've taken one for my last two trips, and I know I would have forgotten much of the little details without having some good moments captured on tape. It gives us great pleasure to watch it now.

There were also times when people really got into the spirit of the filming, and we have some priceless moments on dvd as a result now. But also agree that the danger is that you can spend too much time experiencing life 2nd hand through the viewfinder.

My advice is take it .... make sure it is comfortable, unobtrusive and easy to carry, and only whip it out when you feel inspired. Two or three months after you get back home you will be glad you took it ..... Two or three years / decades later you will really treasure those captured moments.

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atala

I absolutely agree with the above. My most preferred and fascinating films are those where I sit at a shop, at the side of a road, and just film what happens on the road. The film captures more complexity than the eye is able to follow at a given moment, so you end up seeing more at home than you did at the cross-road.

There is one specialty about India and its people, that is the way they move. Their body-movements are so aesthetically harmonius, that you cannot capture and transport that harmony and have others back home see what you mean, except by showing them a brief video.

I travelled once with a professional Ergonomist (who studied micro-movements in daily activities of people) from Europe. Once we observed on a construction site how a chain of people handed bricks up a line on a scaffolding. My ergonomist-friend was amazed to see what the workers did: They used body movements in such a way that they harmonized each and every possible jerk into a an even flow so that the end-result looked like a complexe ballet dance. If it was not hard work it could have been a kind of art show for the trained eye to distinguish and appreciate the visual processes. That is the kind of thing that you can only transport on a video, and even if we cannot describe exactly what we see (and probably do not wish to do so), we can intuitively understand and enjoy the beauty which is so special there.

the opoponax

Keep in mind that if you have a digital camera (for stills), it likely has a video mode, which on newer cameras is pretty much just as good as a camcorder. My camera (an Olympus Stylus from 2006) shoots about 10 minutes of video at a go. Which is probably for the best -- keeps it short and sweet and much easier to force on friends back home.

One added benefit of this is that it records to your camera's flash card, which makes it very easy to manipulate on a computer, whether in video editing software or to upload to a blog or YouTube, email to family and friends, etc. And you can back it up on a portable hard drive or CD quite easily, so no tapes to source and lug around. I have a 1 gig XD flash card, and I find that I can take plenty of photos and video without filling it up too quickly. (to be perfectly honest, I don't think I've ever filled it up!)

I'd also add, regarding quality issues, that unless you're a professional hoping to shoot a film or pick up stock footage, what's available on your digital is just as good as most camcorders I've ever seen. You really don't need cinema quality DV to shoot little travel videos, any more than you need a top of the line SLR for snapshots.

Gibberish

Using a digital still to capture video is an excellent idea! It works very nicely unless you need to capture hours of high quality video. I have been doing something similar over the last couple of years in my travels. Pretty much all recent (and not so recent) digital cameras will have that capability though not all allow the use of zoom in video mode, so check your camera if this feature is important. The only extra investment you need is some extra memory cards but they are pretty inexpensive these days (also readily available in India in most major towns). Also remember that most touristy places in India will have internet shops, many of which will allow you to transfer your pictures from the cards to CDs (for a small fee). If you have one of those mini external hard drives lying around, that may be another way to backup (and free up your cards).

I find that I take more video clips these days when I travel just because I almost always have my digital camera in my pocket.

One more (perhaps less important factor): there used to be (perhaps still are) many monuments/national parks in India where you have to pay a very hefty fee for using a video camera. Still cameras with video capabilities are not subject to these fees (though you may still have to pay substantially lower still camera fees).

Sama

I was in a store looking at cameras yesterday and strolled over to the recorder section -- am amazed at how small they are nowadays! certainly would not take up much room in a backpack.

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Nick-H

If I had to choose camcorder or still, to fulfil both purposes, I think I'd take the camcorder. You need a lot of cards to store your video, but I'd be happy with the lower-resolution stills from the camcorder.

edwardseco

The one time I didn't take mine my son was called onto stage for a performance. He stole the show and I sat groaning about not having a cam. Live and learn, next trip I took one and a snake charmer showed up in our obscure suburb..

doonkin

I took one to Burma a year ago and while I had it out I felt a bit detached from it all
(though hawkers treat you different if your filming them - it's like they're on americas most wanted) - BUT the footage I got back was priceless esp if you get back home and actually cut it in imovie or something.

The newer -mini usb-camcorders look very interesting - IF your bringing a laptop to upload each day.
Its small enough that youd actually get it out in the most hectic time (best footage later)
Look at this iFlip

http://www.amazon.com/Video-Ultra-Ca...6068522&sr=8-6