digital camera for a teacher/classroom setting

Hi *,

I am a teacher in need of a digital camera with the following features:

1._ you can use to take still snapshots and for actually taping
(recording as 'movies')

2._ you could use to record voice well. People have said to me I could
(or rather could NOT ;-)) buy one of these very expensive professional
ones, OR I could by one which lets you plug in an external professional
mic if you need to

3._ I would like for the camera to be able to stream the data directly
to a computer, instead of using this extra memory sticks as an option
as well and I would like for the transfer/streaming to be in an
standard format so that I could use a Windows, Linux or a MAC computer
if I need to

I need it for my classes

As a teacher sometimes I need to make copies/pix of textual information
and then be able to scan it and get the text files, which they have
said to me you could somehow do with a digital camera as well. How do
you do this?

Any ideas? Which other things should I be watching out for?

Also what would you recommend for video/voice editing?

Any -good- links and/or books out there. It is virtually impossible for
a newbie to tall apart good info from the lousy/ultimately time wasting
type

Thanks

 

From what you've described, it appears you need a digital movie
camera, not a digital still camera.

 

It sounds like you actually have two requirements.
1. Record sound and video in realtime.
2. Take still pictures including "Macro" or closeups so that a document or
smaller fills the frame.

Transferring pictures to a PC actually works much better with memory cards
than it does with a camera.
The time is much shorter, and there is no camera battery charge issue.

Having said all that, you may also want to consider control of a camera from
the PC.
There are third party software packages that allow you to control exposures
and sequences from the PC, with extensive control of camera settings.

Picture/video resolution may be an issue, as may be the upcoming/current
changes to TV broadcast standards.
5 to 8 megapixels (true) may be the area of resolution you will need for
good quality still pictures, and a lesser resolution for video.
I'm not into the current video cameras, so I'd pass on that area.

An area that may also be problematic is that of focus. Most of the digital
cameras have auto and manual focus. The auto focus may not work well in some
applications, and require that manual focus be used for maximum sharpness.
Manual focus on many of the digital cameras is not easy to use, due to the
size of the LCD display and the expanded area in the center used for
focusing.

It should be possible to spend less than $1000 and possibly around $500 for
the basic equipment you seem to need.
An additional 1 to 2 hundred may be needed for software. Basic software
comes with the digital camera, or is part of windows XP. Video camera
software is a bit different, in that minimal or no software is usually
included.

Sound is usually better handled by the video cameras when compared to the
digital still cameras.

My Oly C8080 will record sound using a built in mike, however the sound is
more suited for comments than sound to be played back with a video. ( I
would not recommend this camera for your stated uses.)

 

I'm a teacher also. I have, as my personal camera, a Canon S2 IS. It's one
of the few camera's out there that will take video with stereo sound. Having
said that though, I don't think I would recommend it for a school. It's too
large and it has a seperate lens cap.
It can do #1 very well and #2 very well. I don't agree with you about #3 in
not using a memory card.
It's got a great macro mode.
Let me do some research and get back to you with a recommendation or two.

 

What's your budget?

 

I was just looking today at the Canon 610 or 620. The 610 is 5 megapixels,
the 620 is 7.1 megapixels. I think that 5 is very sufficient. Too many
people read the hype and get caught up in the "megapixel race". Megapixels
are one of the last things I look at when I'm looking at a camera. (I"ve had
3 digicams)
I look at things like the optical zoom, ergonomics, power source...I mean,
how the heck many poster sized prints are you going to make? The one thing
that's nice about having a bunch of pixels is that you can take a picture at
high resolution, then crop it and when you print it, it will still be good
resolution, much less likely to be pixelated.
I only saw the Canon Powershot 610/620 reviews today, not sure about the
movie mode. But I can tell you that pretty much nobody makes a really good
still/movie camera. Probably the best is my Canon S2 IS, but I don't think
it's the best choice for a school. That is if the kids will be using it. If
*you* will be the primary user, I'd say go for it!
Canon Powershot 610/620 announcements...
http://tinyurl.com/dpwx4

610 Reviews
http://tinyurl.com/8zgqd

Quote from the following review of the 620
"The PowerShot A620 has a very good movie mode. You can record video at 640
x 480 (30 frames/second) with sound until either your memory card is full or
the file size reaches 1GB. It takes about eight minutes to hit the 1GB file
size, so at that point the recording will end (remember, the file size limit
is per movie). For longer movies you can either reduce the frame rate to 15
frames/second or lower the resolution to 320 x 240 (which supports both
frame rates). A "compact" movie mode is also available, recording at 160 x
120 (15 frames/second) for up to three minutes"
Very good 620 Review. I really like this site!
http://tinyurl.com/8otg4

Damn! I want the 620 for my next camera.

--
Joe Fisher
Teacher, K-8
Marion, MT

 

I don't agree with you about #3 in not using a memory card.

the thing is that I don't want to have to use these sticks, I would
rather create each time a new file and archive directly in the
computer's hard drive. If I need to use sticks it would be fine too,
but I don't want to go through the extra step of having to transfer the
data from the memory stick to the hd for archival

Using a cable is not an impediment to me at all. Since I will just be
standing in one spot and record my studnets conversations. I am an ESL
teacher by the way

Also the sound option is most important to me. Stereo sound recording
right from the device, I mena internally or does it use an extra mic?

otf

 

What's your budget?
a teacher's one ;-)
..
No kidding, I could throw a good $700 at it
..
otf

 

the cannon digicams look impresive, but can you actually record for
say three hours with them?

otf

 

the cannon digicams look impresive, but can you actually record for
say three hours with them?

otf

 

Record Voice only? Probably longer than 3 hours. Video w/voice, 30 minutes
max.
Joe

 

No worries then. $700 will buy you a lot!
Joe

 

Even using the "sticks", all I do is plug the camera into the computer and
download the pictures. I virtually never take the memory card out of the
camera. I have a 1 GB card. With my camera at least, the stereo sound
recording is right from the device. It's got quite a good internal mic, it
surprised me how good it is.
Joe

 

Video w/voice, 30 minutes max.

the thing is that I don't want to stop the class to tinker with the
camera as my students wait for me. Usually they go through for 2 hrs 45
mins classes and I would like to leave the camera work unattended from
a tripod. That is why I need direct streaming to a file in the computer

Also it does not feel right. If you stop and do camera work while
teaching that gives them a feeling of staging something, which is not
good for what I need. I teach ESL and I would like for my students to
play/do their regular nuances/mistakes as if they were in the regular
class setting

otf

 

Then you'll need a movie camera. There is no still camera that does more
than 30 minutes of video at at time.
Joe

 

There is a new canon (Canon's new Powershot SD430 Wireless) coming
out "soon"

http://wireless.engadget.com/entry/1234000273064920/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B8UOV6/

I couldn't even find an informative link at B & H

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

that will also connect to a computer wirelessly through wifi, so? It
will have all 'we' are looking for.

otf

 

if you are going to be recording while connected to your computer... umm
have you considered a webcam?