DH wants to buy a video recorder - but he also spent £599 on a camera that has Never Been Used...

[Deebeeee]

We are going on holiday shortly on a sort of 'once in a lifetime' destination.

DH has said he wants to 'take lots of videos' while we are there and has announced that he wants to buy a 'decent/swanky' video recorder - I guess the more modern version of the Flipcam if anyone remembers this?

I think it's a few hundred quid that would be better spent elsewhere. He also spent £599 on a Fujifilm camera that has never been used because he had these grand ideas of doing a photography course which came to nothing. He has said he would be 'happy' to trade in the camera - but I am not sure how much it would be worth now, AND by 'trade in,' he means that it would be me doing the research and the trade - I don't think so!

I would like to know if there is any reason he couldn't or shouldn't just use his iPhone to take the videos?? Is anyone buying video cameras these days?

Can’t help really, but I know someone who knows a cameraman who was cheesed off as all his super expensive kit is now unnecessary and a lot can be done on iPhone apparently. Especially with cool editing apps.
It’s also all in the editing/ adding soundtrack. The most blurry crap footage can be made spectacular and emotional if edited to the carpenters,’why do birds…just like me they long to be, close to you….’ Think running around on beach, slo mo cuddle etc.
and the most expensive camera in the world won’t help shite composition, boring long shots and worse, it all lying in a pile on a file somewhere.

An iPhone is plenty good.

Also tell him to take the blooming stills camera! All filmmakers take stills to hone their composition skills etc. don’t take a course ffs, just google some cool photography and get the f on with it. Tell him to take 100 pictures today, of his day. Or just as he cooks the dinner. Keep taking them until he is bored and then he has to still keep taking them until all the obvious stuff is out of his head, and then he’ll start to take photographs.
blimey, I know more than I thought!
good luck, a great broadcast quality video camera won’t make crap shots better.

Thank you so much for your tips @Citygirlypop! I asked him why he wanted a video camera as opposed to using the phone and he said, ‘the quality… for HD.’ Well I googled and have found out there’s an HD setting on iPhone videos too.

Tell him to take 100 pictures today, of his day. Or just as he cooks the dinner.

Oh believe me, I tried! It was lockdown and I told him to take photos on our daily walks or the garden wildlife out of the window. But he wouldn’t. It was odd.

He probably couldn’t figure out how to use it but wouldn’t admit it 😆
In agreement with everyone - a decent iPhone will take great films.

Aww, poor chap, maybe he’s scared.
sometimes the pressure to do a ‘good’ photo puts you off, especially if the camera is expensive. He just needs to get used to taking crap. Same with I phone, start filming now, so you’re not putting loads of pressure on yourself on hols. Remember it’s for fun! It doesn’t need to be ‘good’ as ‘good’ people have a ton of assistants.
theres one famous director Tony Kaye who did ads, and just shot or got his assistants to shoot, 100s of meters of film, something was bound to be good out of that amount!
maybe you start to snap, make mini films which might make it ‘normal’ and less terrifying!

He may find the £599 Fujifilm camera shoots video already ...

I've sold cameras to The London Camera Exchange - got much better prices than I expected and it was much easier than the hassle of 'private' sale. Hope that saves you a little research time!

Have a friend who uses their phone and also a GoPro to make very professional videos. (They received the GoPro as a gift.)

Most of the more serious people I’ve seen shooting videos these days have all been using dslr cameras or GoPro, often in conjunction with some kind of steady cam thingy so basically a good digital camera, sounds like he has that already.

And most phones are more than adequate if set to 4K as has been said.

Proper cameras can have their place, I work in video editing so I’m a nerd with lots of different cameras. But for a holiday, iPhone all the way, they’re slim you will be carrying it anyway so they’re not bulky and annoying, great quality footage, there’s a lot of good YouTubers filming travel footage with just an iPhone and no learning curve, who wants to be fannying about with learning a new camera on holiday