John M. Setzler, Jr. Life in Black and White

I Finally Did It

I have been considering this for a long time, but I finally decided to buy an inexpensive digital camcorder.  I haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet, but I already feel like a photo noob all over again.  I don't know much of anything about editing video, and I'm going to be stuck with the Windows MovieMaker software for a while until I can get something better. 

I bought the Canon ZR800 MiniDV camcorder from newegg.com earlier this week.  They had a deal on the camera with a cheapie LowePro bag for $175, so I snatched one.  The Windows MovieMaker software doesn't impress me a lot, but I don't know much about it either.  I did download a trial version of PowerDirector 6 and it seems to have all the functionality I would like to see in a video editing package.  I'll probably end up buying that sometime soon. 

The real question is... What am I gonna do with it?  I don't know.  Since I photograph a lot of sports, I'll probably make some sports video clips.  Maybe I'll catch the next great video in photojournalism as I'm trekking the streets of Hickory.  Maybe I'll explore art in video somehow. 

What really comes to mind with this $175 purchase is how much digital camcorders have come down in price.  Back in about 1999 or 2000, I was sent to purchase a digital camcorder for the company where I was working.  I bought a Sony Digital 8 that had less capabilities than this new Canon, and I paid (or the company paid) nearly $1500 for that camera.  At least I don't have $1500 sunk into something I might abandon in a few months...