In This Issue:

Tarpon Movie...Read

Tarpon Terror...Read

Will Fish For Gas...Read

Boat Sinks...Read

Fish n' Clips™ Video Cameras

The topic of video cameras is so broad that we felt that the experts should put in their 2 cents worth. Therefore, we direct you to the forum where we have a video section that is devoted to cameras and videography. We encourage you to share your experiences with specific cameras, your favorite one, or ask questions about what camera is best for your level of expertise or situation. This field is constantly changing and only sites that devote themselves to this subject can keep up with all the products offered and the new ones that come out throughout the year. So whether you are an amateur just starting out or a professional, please, go to the forum and ask the experts or let others know what you think of a product or camera feature.

I will make a couple of suggestions based on the assumption that you are a novice looking for advice, you want to make a basic good quality home movie, download it to your computer, and use commonly available editing software to make a DVD.

Format
A digital camera using the MiniDV format will give you the quality and flexibility you require.

Image Quality
DV camera image quality is affected by how many CCD (charge coupled device) chips are used to create the image. Less expensive cameras use one chip for sampling the image's color components - red, green and blue. They sometimes smear or bleed colors. The more expensive cameras use three chips, one for each color. This makes for sharper color images. Which one? If your plan is just to post your film on YouTube or email it to friends, the single chip is fine. If you plan on ever doing any higher quality work, the three chip is better if you can afford it. We recommend a three chip camera.

Camera/Editing Software Compatibility
Not all cameras work with all editing software. If you have a favorite editing program, make sure your new camera is compatible before you buy. Conversely, make sure the editing program is compatible with your camera before you buy or download it.

Ports:
Different types of ports come standard on different cameras.
Make sure you can plug your camera into your computer to download.
If you want to plug in an external device, such as a head cam, there must be an AVI port to receive it.

Zoom
Don't be taken in by claims of big digital zoom capabilities, no digital zoom produces a good picture.

We use a Panasonic PV-GS300. It takes very good video and is easy to use.