Video question - Number of hours you tape?

[infohunter]

Just purchased our first video.... now the question comes down to how much tape and battery do we need to have. We splurged on a Canon HV20 which is one of the new HD videos. This uses tapes and each tape lasts for an hour.

 

So for those of you that love to take videos.... how many hours on a shore excursion do you tape? Our thoughts were that in an 8 hour day one may tape 3 to 4 hours? Does that match what you do? Should we plan on having enough to cover the full day?

 

Trying not to over buy and to over pack.... but then again would hate on this not to have enough.

[govols1]

My guestimate is that you are way over in thinking 3-4 hours of taping a day. I would guess it would be closer to 1-2 hours at the most. Remember you will be turning it on and off all day. I also just purchased a new camcorder (30 gig hard drive) and I am hoping to get a 7 day cruise on the one hard drive.

 

Govols1!

[infohunter]

Thanks for your insights... because the hubby wanted a HD video recorder our only option was tape. A hard drive would have been easier but isn't yet an option....

 

Any one else have any thoughts on this?

[chasetf]

Just purchased our first video.... now the question comes down to how much tape and battery do we need to have. We splurged on a Canon HV20 which is one of the new HD videos. This uses tapes and each tape lasts for an hour.

 

So for those of you that love to take videos.... how many hours on a shore excursion do you tape? Our thoughts were that in an 8 hour day one may tape 3 to 4 hours? Does that match what you do? Should we plan on having enough to cover the full day?

 

Trying not to over buy and to over pack.... but then again would hate on this not to have enough.

I think you need to think about what you will be doing. If you are going to the beach most of the time.... I would doubt you would tape much. Once you get the panorama you pretty much have it all. But if going on extended tours visiting historical sites for instance, then you would probably be taping more. But... 3 to 4 hours a day is a lot. That means you are spending more than half your time (discounting getting to and from) with your face in your camera.

 

We have (in the past) done on average 4-6 hours total on a seven day (those were Alaska, Caribbean, and Mexican Riveria).

 

But I found I like digital photos better. I had to go back and capture stills off the videos. Easier to organize and view..... but that is just my preference.

[Trainer]

I went to China recently with a new camcorder. Even with lots of interesting places to film I used about one hour of tape a day. I did use several different tapes, using one tape for 2-3 different days so that it would be easier to organize. But even with my new 'toy' I brought too many tapes. I would suggest that you use one tape to practice with until you are very familiar with the equipment.

Sue Ann

[momofmeg]

My husband videos WAY too much! but the good thing about that is we don't have tons of pictures! He always brings the battery charger and he also has a second battery. Our last cruise he had 7 HOURS of video! I still have not watched all of that!

[infohunter]

Thanks all.... love the help. As you can see from our sig line we are off to South America and going around Cape Horn. So hard to decide.... we will have our laptop so that we can off load tape if necessary. The key was that we wanted to make sure we had enough tape and battery for a day or two without worrying about things.... If I leave the hubby alone he is ready to bring enough tapes to start his own library ;) So as to always use a fresh tape. That is overkill since we will have the laptop to off load things but His thought is that we won't have to worry about off loading tape in the evening when he wants to relax.

 

We have been playing with the video a little so as to get used to how it works. We also have a digital camera as I like to take pics. He just loved playing with the video option on our digital camera when we were in Australia. Of course those were just icky 640 x 480 snippets. Hence why I let him talk me into a new unit for this trip. While I haven't watched those snippets lately he does all the time.

[heatherandfred]

I just rec'd the Sony HDR-1 as a bday present. I am definitely looking forward to using it on my cruise in April! 30gb is enuf

[cb at sea]

Hell, we don't even take pictures on vacation! We've found we spent so much time trying to get the "perfect shot", that we were missing the actual vacation! Now, we just enjoy. We figure, if you need a picture to remember something by, then maybe it wasn't so memorable!

[DanJ]

You always think you'll use it more than you do, and the time you are using it seems to be longer than it really turns out to be. The longest I ever did was about 90 minutes on the Grand Princess. That included about 15 minutes on the seaplane tour at St Thomas and 15 or 20 minutes of "If I Were Not Upon The Sea" in the Vista Lounge. I'd walk around the ship, take several seconds on a room, turn it off, go to the next, take a few seconds. You won't be taping the entire time you are on an excursion because you'll want to actually be enjoying the excursion too.

[bUU]

Something else to keep in mind: I think folks should expect to create only about one hour of decent video from six or seven hours of video recorded. The investment of time wading through the six or seven hours to cut and paste together the one good hour is well worth it as the years go along.

 

There's a corresponding rule-of-thumb for photos: Figure one in six or seven photos you take are "keepers".

 

It is best NOT to edit while on vacation -- you've got lots of time once you get home to do that. So for best results, take lots of video/photos, and then do the editing down to the good stuff once you get home.

[cloverseeker]

Our cruisetour to Alaska earlier this year we taped 6 hours of video on our 13 day trip. Keep in mind that you will be turning it on and off and probably won't do much continued taping. Like others have said you don't want to spend the entire trip behind the camera and miss out on your vacation or hauling it around with you. Take a digital camera with so others can take pictures of both of you, there are always people around willing to do this.

 

Take extra batteries too and see about a charger.:)

[cruisinbuddy]

Well on my last cruise my camcorder f#$ked up and couldn't tape a thing. It detected dew in the air and shut down. We now have a hard drive corder and will tape a lot. However, in the past when my recorders did work, I usually taped about 2 to 3 hours for the whole cruise. Take 5 tapes with you and that should be more than enough. If not the photo shop might have tapes there.

[Jimmers]

We bought one for our last 7 day cruise. Used two 1 hr tapes and they were'nt even full. I prefer to use the digital still camera for most pictures. Who wants to spend all their time looking at the world through an 2.5 inch LCD screen. As the one poster said you miss too much.

 

Where the video was worth every dime was when I got my daughter going down a zipline, my son in a racing boat, and both my wife and daughter doing karaoke on the ship. Priceless.

 

You can't properly "capture" those moments on still photos. So my suggestion when you go ashore is have one tape in the camera and another as a spare.

 

BTW, anyone want to buy a VHS or a VHS-C camcorder. We're still holding onto our relics hoping they may come back in style. In about a year our DVC will probably be joining them, lol.

 

Enjoy

Jimmers:)

[chasetf]

...........There's a corresponding rule-of-thumb for photos: Figure one in six or seven photos you take are "keepers".

 

It is best NOT to edit while on vacation -- you've got lots of time once you get home to do that. So for best results, take lots of video/photos, and then do the editing down to the good stuff once you get home.

I agree.... On each of our recent Australia / NZ, British Isles, and Europe / Med trips I took over 5000 pictures. I culled those down to about 800 for the family "slide" shows, and then culled those down to 60-80 for the album / scrapbook.

 

I still have the original pictures in files and go through slide shows on the computer for myself.

[happy cruzer]

Our experience is as follows. We did a South American cruise, we have about 11 hours of video of the 14 day trip. We took alot (1 1/2 hours)when we were doing the scenic cruising of the glaciers. Gets a bit boring but we there for around 14 hours. We did not take enough pre and post cruise in Buenos Aires and Santiago. We also did not take enough of the penguins, I mean how often are you going to get to see penguins up close in their natural habitat?) We did not take enough of the ship (now DH takes about 1 hour one morning and tapes each public room for a few seconds so that we can remember details of the ship) for about 15 minutes of tape.

 

and always remember one thing that makes the video priceless is AUDIO. I did not want a video camera at first, still shots were fine for me. But the first time I heard the audio with the video, I was sold. We have audio of fellow cruisers talking that really brings back memories of those folks better than just a picture. Remember to talk into the camera to help describe where you are and anything special going on. But leave some dead time when you are just catching the natural audio going on - the wind and waves, etc.

 

Have fun.

[Philob]

Always bring an extra battery, pros suggest 3 minimum: 1st one on the camera, the 2nd one in the pocket to use when the camera one dies, and the 3rd on the charger. Rotate them at the end of the day.

 

Tape is cheap, you don't want to go somewhere and run out. You can use the rest later

 

I'd brought 4 1-hr tapes for my week in Hawai'i and only used about 1 1/2 hrs, edited down to 15 minutes. My last two trips to Asia, I used about 8 hrs each, edited down to 15 & 20 minutes.

 

:)

 

Edit: We also shot 300+ digital still pictures in Hawai'i.

[infohunter]

Yes have extra batteries! So okay there. Love everyones suggestions

[engineer38]

My experience:

5 hours shot on a 14 night Eastern Med cruise, and am still editing 4months later. Batteries run out faster than tape so the 3 battery rotation is a good idea.

You can buy miniDV tape almost anywhere on the tourist routes.

If you have a new camera, try it out at home before you go on the trip of a lifetime. Make a short "tourist video" of your own hometown and get used to holding the camera steady, finding the controls etc. etc.

Remember to enjoy the trip as well as shooting the video!!

[jlp20]

...which is one of the new HD videos. This uses tapes and each tape lasts for an hour.....how many hours on a shore excursion do you tape....

 

I am going to answer your question from the opposite point of view. I have a MiniDV that also uses one-hour tapes. Through a remarkable find on eBay, I got my hands on a box of over 75 cassettes, so I don’t have to factor tape “supply” when going on a cruise. I also have a “second” battery. The short answer from my experience is one tape for every day of the cruise plus two extra. So far I have returned home with unused tape each cruise.

 

Three pieces of advise, first, when done “taping” anything, double check the camera is off. I have put the camera down or away while still recording several times. No big deal but going through all the “dead air” when editing is frustrating.

 

Second, learn how to shoot from the hip. That is leaving the lens for a wide shot and recording by pointing the camera at your subject without using the viewfinder or screen. These “candid” type shots can be very interesting when mixed with your other videos.

 

Third, when editing, you’ll find that just fifteen seconds of video of any “scene” will be more than enough. Remember to enjoy the cruise and not spend it behind the viewfinder of a camera.

[infohunter]

Great tips. I like the on about shooting from the hip. Thanks!!!

[bUU]

"Learn to shoot from the hip" is great advice -- the better you get at this, the less you have to look through the viewfinder. The camera becomes just a record of what you experienced, instead of something you actually had to think about while you were on vacation.

[travelmatron]

Turning the tape on and off, zooming, and using any of the special features, like fading in and out or titles all use extra batteries. It's much easier to buy an extra blank tape than an extra battery. We have found that recording to the end of a tape sometimes results in distortions (which may also be a battery issue), so we change tapes 15 minutes before the end. It is much better to tape too long and cut it than have a choppy view of 27 different scenes. I try never to tape less than 30 seconds, although many cuts end up being shorter. Now you need to ask yourself who is going to watch the tapes, and how much they love you. Trust me, no one is ever going to think they are as wonderful as you do. If no one else is going to see them make them as long as you'd like. Family may watch for an hour, good friends might be good for 30 minutes. We were in Morocco this year where we used 4 one hour tapes and two batteries for a bit more than 3 hours of recording. We edited them to a little over one hour, but it's all for us. Practice at home to see how much you really feel like taping, and how interesting it is to you when you look at it again.