Is having a digital camcorder the preference?

[new kiwi girl]

This will be my first cruise to Alaska, and I'm pulling out all the stops and taking all the main excursions etc, so I can make sure I try to see and do it all!! LOL

I'm taking my mother with me and between us all we have is a Canon sure shot camera, my iPad, and smart phone and all will do some kind of videos, but I'm not sure they will be good enough.

I'm going on the Neets Bear Watch, where I thought having a decent (read not horribly expensive) camcorder will be nice. Also have 2 days sailing thru the Glacier Bay as we are on a 14 day cruise, and I've seen some of the videos people have taken, and they are impressive. Will they work well on some of the helicopter and plane rides I've booked?

I know you can spend many many dollars on these, but I'm hoping to find something decent for under $400 as not sure how much I'll use it after this trip.

Any help will certainly be appreciated!

[peety3]

Consider renting if you won't be using it much after the trip. You can get a lot better gear on the same budget when renting. Check lensrentals.com or local camera stores or search around.

[ikirumata]

How about a GoPro? Would be cool to mount it on the helicopter/plane.

[peety3]

How about a GoPro? Would be cool to mount it on the helicopter/plane.

You won't get to mount it outside so you'd better explore suction-cup mounts so you can be mounted and ready in a jiffy. Once you've arrived, the wide view of a GoPro may lose its luster quickly for wildlife.

[ronrythm]

How about a GoPro? Would be cool to mount it on the helicopter/plane.

GoPros are cool for a very few things and horrid for most things. I have a GoPro 3 Black and it is awesome for mounting on my bike or ATV and some extreme wide angle shots, like a piano keyboard, but then I also have a $3,000 Sony prosumer cam and a $200 Sony consumer cam. I wouldn't choose it as my only video camera. Some of the helicopter and plane rides mostly have a built in camera system that will do better than a GoPro. Ask your vendor and spend the $20 bucks or so to buy from them and save the money from the GoPro. Then, for general use, look at one of the Sony or Canon HD digital camcorders at around $200. Make sure it has some sort image stabilization to get rid of some of the shake from holding it by hand. Make sure you have the right kind of memory card to go with the camcorder and someplace to download the files to or plenty of extra cards.

Enjoy and make great memories,

Ron

p.s. on my trip to Alaska in July, I will be taking the $200 Sony, My Olympus toughcam for stills and the GoPro for my bike rides. The expensive cam stays home so I can enjoy myself and not worry about it.:D

[new kiwi girl]

Thanks everyone. I decided to go with a sony Hd one with the stabiliser and not too expensive so don't need to worry about it all the time. The go pro sounded good but decided I need more an everyday one. (read not active enough). Thanks for your all your help.