My (cheap) Kodak camera, might not be the kind you want, but it does use an SD card (very easy &quot;plug in&quot; type) for memory, and I literally have used it with a tripod before, and it has both optical zoom and, a decent number of pixels (for still pictures at least) so that you can do some digital &quot;darkroom magic&quot; during &quot;post production&quot; after the actors have left town. <div>
<br></div><div>...when your &quot;deleted scenes&quot; (maybe to be included as &quot;bonus features&quot; on the DVD) are ending up on the cutting room floor.</div><div><div><br></div><div>I use this camera mostly for still pictures (like this one, taken Feb 11 at the blood bank : <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3662669&amp;id=664267723&amp;fbid=305704457723">http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3662669&amp;id=664267723&amp;fbid=305704457723</a> ) ; HOWEVER, it has what looks like an ad for &quot;YouTube&quot; on the front of the camera (complete with a logo and color scheme, that seems to suggest that Kodak and YouTube are trying to promote each other, or something like that).  </div>
<div><br></div><div>It literally cost me under $100 last Thanksgiving at Wal-Mart (it might be even cheaper now...) not counting the SD memory (flash) card, which I already had, in my OLD Kodak camera (which died, or ailed.) -- and those (SD memory cards) are cheaper now than when I bought mine.  Now I think they are under $10, although maybe more for bigger sizes.  (but since I do mostly still pictures, I don&#39;t need very many GB). </div>
<div><div><br></div><div>The camera is a Kodak &quot;EasyShare&quot; model C160.  You can borrow it if you want to check it out.  </div><div><br></div><div>It has built in &quot;options&quot; for [e.g.] modes for : </div>
<div><br></div><div>* Portrait </div><div>* Sport (fast action) </div><div>* Close up (subjects closer than 28 inches) </div><div>* Landscape </div><div>* Flower </div><div>* Sunset </div><div>* Backlight </div><div>* Candle light </div>
<div>* Children (action photos in bright light) </div><div>* Manner/Museum </div><div>* Text </div><div>* Beach </div><div>* Snow </div><div>* Fireworks </div><div>* Self Portrait (close-up of self) </div><div>* Night Portrait </div>
<div>* Night Landscape</div><div>* High ISO (very low light conditions) </div><div>and </div><div>* blur reduction (reduce blur due to subject motion) </div><div><br></div><div>but I do not know whether those are applicable to videos or not (I personally use this camera mostly for still pictures.)</div>
<div><br></div><div>&quot;Video&quot; is another one of the modes -- (Hmm, hence it seems to be mutex with each of the &quot;modes&quot; listed above...) -- (?)</div><div><br></div><div>I am not familiar with [the meaning of the term] &quot;frame stabilization&quot;.  But the manual for the Kodak &quot;EasyShare&quot; model C160 is probably available on-line, so maybe you could look it up, and see if it does what you meant...</div>
<div><br></div><div>Just FYI.  </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">HTH. </span></div><div>-- <br><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mike Schwartz    </span><br>Glendale  AZ <br>
<a href="mailto:schwartz@acm.org">schwartz@acm.org</a><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 9:36 PM, Joseph Sinclair <span dir="ltr">&lt;<a href="mailto:plug-discussion@stcaz.net">plug-discussion@stcaz.net</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">Not too specific, since it&#39;s hard to do that without more information, but the Canon Vixia line of HD camcorders are excellent and most models record both to internal SSD and removable flash cards (the internal is faster, and for short clips at higher quality you can record to internal then copy off to a flash card).<br>

IMHO the Vixia line are a good balance between quality and price, but they&#39;re generally in the $550+ range (the HF R10 is a good model at the low end), the HF10 and HF20 are a couple of the best models for higher-end consumer use.<br>

The Canon FS300 is a nice camera that records direct to SD cards in standard definition available for around $300.  The FS31 in the same line adds a 16G internal SSD for only $50 more.<br>
<br>
All of the Canon camcorders have real optical zoom lenses (in addition to digital &quot;zoom&quot;) and lots of accessory options.<br>
<br>
Very few camcorders have real optical image stabilization until you get into the $600+ range, the rest use digital image stabilization, which works OK for video most of the time, but gets iffy with lots of motion.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
keith smith wrote:<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Hi,<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; I&#39;m looking for a digital camcorder that has frame stabilization and a battery life of at least 2, and a tripod adapter.� Non-digital zoom would be good also.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; I will be using this for YouTube mostly however I need it to have good frame stabilization because I will more than likely be using it while moving and will need to be able to pan left to right or maybe 180 degrees.<br>

&gt;<br>
&gt; I will try to use a tripod, more than likely I will be recording while moving and recording people and cars in motion.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; It has been years since I have bought a camcorder, so any and all suggestions, to include gotchas,� are appreciated.�� Thank you in advance!<br>
&gt; ------------------------<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Keith Smith<br>
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