Should I bring my camcorder?

[Dominique]

Hey

I'm going to France, Spain and Switzerland this summer and I'm trying to minimize the amount of luggage I want to bring. A regular camera is a must so I'm bringing that for sure. Would you recommend also taking along a video camera? Mine is not too bulky, but it's not one of those fancy digitals that you can fit in your pocket either. It'd be nice to have a film of our travels... what do you think? Is it worth lugging around?

Thanks!!

[dougj]

you said "our" travels....so....you could have one person with a still camera and one with a video camera. that's what my wife and |I did. worked out great.

[Eagle]

Dominique, I've also considered taking a Video Camera along, as it would be great to have a memory of not only the sights but also the sounds of the places I'll be visiting. However, I have pretty much ruled against it for a variety of reasons:

-- there's no possible way I can fit the Video Camera and related kit into my Backpack. It adds too much not only in terms of size but also weight.
-- in addition to the Video Camera, one has to pack along blank tapes, spare batteries, a Charger, possibly a voltage converter for the Charger, Plug Adapters and possibly a larger Tripod. This can potentially add a lot of weight!
-- having that much electronic gear will increase the "worry factor" of the trip considerably, as I'd have to make sure it was secured against theft. If the Camera & Tapes were stolen, I would lose the valuable memories they contained, which would negate the purpose of taking the Camera along.
-- iMHO, having to take time from sightseeing to stop and take videos would detract from the whole purpose and experiences of the trip. I would much rather focus and concentrate on the sights & sounds & people of the locations I'm touring, rather than see all of this through a small black & white viewfinder!
-- just the thought of packing that much gear around while touring every day (Camera, Tapes, Spare Batteries, Tripod) makes my back hurt! Keep in mind that I'm also going to have a Daypack with Water, perhaps lunch, regular Camera, light Jacket or whatever, so the Video Camera is not the only thing that one has to haul around.
-- after returning home there would still be a lot of work to do in processing the "raw" video files, to get these into some kind of format that would be palatable for other people to watch. The post-production work with video is not diffiult with i-Movie, but it still takes time. Given my past experience with home movies and slide shows (yes, I'm dating myself a bit by admitting to use of stuff like that), I'm wondering if it's worth the effort to do all this work for what is likely going to be a less-than-enthusiastic audience??? I also don't look at my own videos very often, so I'm not a good audience either.

You indicated that you will be taking a "regular Camera" along. Is this a film or digital model? If you have a digital Camera, most of these are capable of taking short videos along with sound. This isn't the same quality as a "dedicated" video Camera, but might suffice? Of course some degree of kit is necessary with a digital also (memory cards, batteries, etc.) but this is generally a lot lighter and easier to pack than video equipment.

These are only MY reasons for not taking a Video Camera. The bottom line is that if you want to haul that amount of gear around and see Europe through a viewfinder, that's your decision.

Hope this has been of some help. Cheers!!!

[dougj]

all we took was the video camera, a spare battery and 3 minidv tapes.
the camera had a built in charger and the convertor was the same one I used to charge my batteries for my camera.
tripod? get a table top one if you really think you'd want to bring one (personally I can't see why you would). the one I have fits in my camera slingbag.
you stop and take photos....what's the difference in taking a video...use the lcd screen on the camera instead of the viewfinder. this doesn't eat up the batteries the same way as on a still camera (on mine at least)

if your camera is too large then yes I can see having the concerns eagle stated.

[WillTravel]

IntrepidExplorer who posts here has made such nice videotapes from taking his camcorder to Europe, so I can see the advantages.

For me personally, though, if staying in hostels it would feel too burdensome.

So basically I agree with Eagle.

[Dominique]

Thank you so much for your help guys! I should have specified that we'll either be staying in hotels or with friends so worrying about the camcorder in a hostel isn't one of my main concerns. I'm mostly worried about carrying a video cam on public transport, in busy areas and just overall, having to lug a medium-size bag on top of my backpack and daypack.
If anyone else has opinions regarding the hassles and advantages of bringing video cameras I'd love to hear from you!