Video: use my existing High-8 Sony which my dad bought about 10 years ago. The archival video I plan to shoot with it is going to mostly be at home or on family vacations anyway where the bulk won't be noticeable among all the other gear we'd be likely to drag along. There's really no reason to buy a new digital video camcorder.
Still camera: I've pared back my requirements to just the following: 1. 4 megapixels (less is too small, higher is too expensive), 2. swivel LCD (can't compromise on this one), 3. FAST start time and shutter, 4. decent optical zoom. Form factor is negotiable.
For the casual video I wanted to send as emails and for impulse shots, the movie mode on the still needs to be at least 15fps, 320x240, minimum of 3 minutes capacity. Ideally I'd like 30fps, 640x480, with length limited only by capacity of the media.
Price? well, I'm not buying a video camera after all, so I guess I have room on that to play with. Still, I'd like to keep costs down of course. Lets see what cameras turn up under these more realistic specs and then I can gauge price point afterwards. So at this point I am not putting down a hard limit on price.
Since the Kyoto trip isn't until May 15th, there's some room here fo rnew products rolling out as well. Of course, new products will probably be exclusively at 5 MP or above, which will inflate price, but if all other criteria are met, then I may be willing to go for it. UPDATE: The Samsung Digimax V50 and Digimax V40 look like real winners here on all counts - including my ideal video specs. But they don't come out on Amazon until June, nor can I find any reviews or previews out there.
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