About six months ago, our eight year old Hi-8 camcorder finally died. I have been working to get the Hi-8 tapes cut to DVDs, which is a long process involving lots of cables, hard drive space, and patience. But it sure is a lot of fun!

Two months ago our digital point-and-shoot camera died, at only three years old. Frustrating, but it does provide a bit more push for me to move to a digital SLR within the next year or so.

Yesterday we received our new camcorder. It is a Panasonic PV-GS320 MiniDV camera. I hope to do a post later that explains some of my reasoning for selecting this specific camera, and references to many of the sites that influenced my decision.

The manual is a prime example of how not to document a product. But the camera… wow. Somehow now that we own one it sure seems a lot smaller than I remember handling in the stores. But it is simple and very easy to use, and the little video I have captured so far seems outstanding. I have a lot more playing to do with workflow for backups and productions, but the ease and convenience of getting video from the camera to the computer is outstanding.

More to come later!