stitch said:
Kreelanwarrior - I like the ease of use I'm definitely not looking for something that's difficult or for a more serious user. How's the weight on this camera? Is it fairly light? I also like the option that it can work as a regular camera. That is something that I think would be very handy instead of having to carry both with you.
Stitch -
It doesn't weight much, but is still pretty sturdily built. They ads say you can stick it in a back pocket, but that's not really realistic unless you have really baggy pants (although you could put it in a cargo pocket, I suppose). Unlike most guys, I carry all my "stuff" (wallet, keys, two cell phones - one of which is huge - and whatever other junk I need) in a bag (pic below), and it slips in there easily. It's not nearly as light or small as the Flip, but it can do a lot more if that's what you need (particularly the zoom - that's very handy).
I have also been told that some of the camcorders have the capability to get a picture from the video that you have taken. Is that a standard feature on most? I think I would definitely be interested in that option.
I don't think that's very widespread among camcorders, but many have that feature, including the HD1010. There's a limitation on the size of the image you can take, depending on what video quality you're shooting at (I think the max is 4 megapixels; the camera mode can shoot up to either 8 or 10 MP, I can't remember which).
As for recording time, I've mostly used it as at the kids' soccer and baseball games. I've recorded for most of an hour at the soccer games, and still had plenty of battery power, so I can't give you an idea of how much endurance it has because I haven't found the limit yet! I have a 16GB SD card, and have put quite a lot of video on there in 1080i HD mode - I've never had to use the other 4GB card I had as a backup before transferring the clips I wanted to my MacBook Pro. And the cards are pretty cheap and small (only disadvantage: potentially easy to lose!), so that's not a problem. A HUGE step up from DV tape and DVDs!!