Digital camera needed for ATV riding. Ideas?

[Bearcamp]

Newbie here and must say,,,,,,,,,,,,,nice forum and packed with tons of info. Here's what I have. I've been looking for a digital video camera to take along ATV riding. I've been on different ATV sites looking at other videos and wasn't too impressed at the quality. Choppy, blurry and overall poor quality. So I want a camera that will take a good video while also give a good still picture. I have a few thoughts and that's why I'm here asking. I've seen on ebay the SVP DV 2400 and seems like a good little camera with 12 MP but video is only like 640x480. What kind of video will that give me? I'd really like to see some samples of videos from different cameras. Is there a place I could view them? Well what are others thoughts? Anyone have video samples? Oh yeah,,,,,,,,,,,,I have a Fujifilm A345 that I take along riding now,,,,,,,,is the video around 640x480 on that?

[MJS]

I checked out the camera on ebay that you mention. Personally I would stay away from anything that records your video in MPEG -4 and will record up to 30 frames per second. You will not be happy with the quality of the image. I would stick with a camera from either Sony, Canon, Panasonic, JVC or even Samsung in one of the digital formats. MiniDV or MiniDVD if you won't be doing much editing of your material. Make sure you have some type of image stabilizaiton on the camera to help with the shakes while driving and taping. To really eliminate the shakes you'll need a tripod and lots of practice shooting. Thre best US resolution you can get in standard TV is 720 x 480. The difference comes in with the size and number of chips the cameras has, so that it can record the best possible image for that space. A 3 CCD or chip camera will have better resolution and richer color than a 1 chip camera. HD cameras will have better resolution with the higher pixel count. It boils down to how much you have to spend, how large the camera is and whether or not you want to edit on your computer when you are finished. There are plenty of posts that can help with what brand and type of camera listed below. As far as stills with a video camera, or video with a still, I believe it will be a compromize for the time being with combo cameras. I always prefer to carry one of each. Of course being 6 foot and 220 lbs helps.

Good luck.

[Skyman]

I second what MJS said. Have a look through the reviews Here and when you get a camera put up your own review.

[Bearcamp]

Already started to do so. Thx.

[Bearcamp]

Which ones take a tape and which one use a memory card? There's so many out there it's confusing. I'l lookin but I don't want a tape.

[Skyman]

these terms might make it easier:
mini dv - a digital tape
digital 8 - a digital tape based on older 8mm anologue tapes
hi 8 or 8mm - anologue video in an 8mm tape
mini dvd - a dvd based mini format (uses a smaller disk than regular movies)
hdd - a camera that records digital video to a hard disk

sd - can either mean a type of memory card (format for saving still pictures and video) or standard definition, a format for digital video.
hd - high definition a format for high quality digital video. in terms of editing your video and getting decent quality you will do best with either a mini dvd or mini dv (tape) format. contrary to popular belief on all but the most expensive digital video cameras tape is still the best format. this is largely to do with the differences between an uncompressed avi file (the format mini dv cameras use) and the compressed mpg formats that are used for dvd cameras and memory card or flash cameras. if you are serious about getting good video then you really need to be looking at a camera that is designed for video again that means either mini dvd or mini dv. hybrid cameras (those still cameras that claim they do video) really don't do the video well enough to be of much use.

[Bearcamp]

WOW,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,answered alot of questions. There's alot of (name brand) MiniDVs on ebay for quite low prices. I don't want to get alot into one cause if it's dropped or under water, I won't loose alot. But, I do believe I'll be looking into the Minidv for my needs. Lots of info here, Thanks.