Is the flip camcorders memory expandable?

Memory on camcorders, what is the difference?

• I am looking to buy a camcorder. I will only use it for home video, things like kids at christmas, school plays and such. I don't have a large budget, but want to get something nice. I know very little about these things and am a bit confused at the different times of cameras out there. Flash memory, minidvd, dvd, hard disk drive...what is the difference? Which would offer the best quality, user friendly (as in easy) best price? Thanks!

• Answer:

  Consumer camcorders that record directly to DVDs seem convenient - until you decide you want to edit the video or upload to your computer for editing or upload to the web. The video quality is poor. Not recommended. Consumer hard disc drive (HDD) camcorders are OK - if you never find yourself in a loud environment (bands whether or not they are amplified), loud engines, etc because the vibration *might* cause the hard drvie heads to park and no recording happens... and at high altitude (over 9,800 feet), the hard drive heads will park - these are known issues with HDD camcorders. Since I never know where I'll be, I just eliminate the potential issue by not getting these camcorders. The video quality is WAY better than DVD based camcorders, but not "best available". video file transfer to a computer is by using a USB connection. There are issues with making backups and archives if you want to have the video in the future. Flash memory saves to the same file formats that HDD camcorders do, so if you video editor can deal with them without using an intermediate conversion step, great. As with HDD cams, the video quality is WAY better than DVD based camcorders, but not "best available". Flash memory camcorders do not have the vibration or altitude issues that HDD cams do. There are issues with making backups and archives if you want to have the video in the future - flash memory is still pretty expensive and an unreliable long-term storage solution. MiniDV tape provideds the "best available" video quality because the digital video is the least compressed when compared to the other consumer camcorder storage methods. MiniDV tape camcorders do not have the vibration or altitude issues that HDD cams do. MiniDV tape is a digital media tthat is just as digital as HDD or flash memory - and is also considered an appropriate long-term storage media. MonoDV tape based camcorders have their DV or HDV format video imported by a computer using a firewire connection - this is also known as DV (Digital Video), IEEE1394a, and i.LINK. If your computer does not have a firewire port, hopefully it has an available expansion slot so one can be easily added. Transferring DV or HDV using USB will not work and using a USB-firewire converter/adapter will not work. All consumer camcorders are "easy to use" point and shoot devices - and some have certain manual controls if you get more interested in videography - some manual controls on some camcorders are easier to get to than others. Consumer Entry level: Canon ZR900, ZR930 (standard definition only) Consumer Mid range: Canon HV30, Sony HDR-HC9 (standard def and high definition) Consumer High end: Canon GL2, Sony VX2100 (standard def only) It gets more expensive as you land in the prosumer and pro environments.