T1i or Vixia HF200

[dwdty9]

So my wife and I are expecting our first child in August and I want to be able to take some video of her when she arrives and of her in general.

I already have a Sony A200 dslr that doesn't shoot video or anything, just images. But I have been debating about getting a camcorder (Canon Vixia HF200) or upgrading my dslr to something like the Nikon d5000 or Canon EOS Rebel T1i that takes images AND records in 720p. I know I won't get the full features of a camcorder, but it might be easier to just use and carry around one device when I want to take pictures and shoot some video.

I'm not making movies or anything, just some video clips to preserve some memories. Maybe a little video editing, but not a lot.

What do you guys think?

 

[twistedlogic]

I'd wait maybe one or two generations more before I'd go with a DSLR for video.

The D5000 will not AF while shooting video at all, while the Rebel T1i uses contrast-based AF which is pretty slow.

 

[magomago]

ya don't expect a dslr to handle this stuff well. Unless you are a pro at MF and do it well, I'd just get a camcorder instead. DSLR + Camcorder seems to be the way to go.

 

[Aharami]

i found a thread on dpreview that talks about this
http://forums.dpreview.com/for...m=1031&thread=31909977

but since you have a DSLR already, I'd go with the dedicated camcorder

 

[dwdty9]

thanks. i found a site: planet500d.com and that convinced me that the digital slr is NOT the way to go even for family video. The jelly effect is all over the place and the autofocusing is awful. It is LOUD and waaay too slow.

 

[Kaido]

Yup, dedicated is the way to go. The HF200 is fabulous. I have a D90 and while it's pretty cool from an amateur film nerd's perspective, there are simply too many shortcomings to really make it usable for daily, on-the-go video - no autofocus, jello effect, missing some manual controls, no Live HDMI output (or even using the Viewfinder in video mode), etc. etc. etc. The HF200 shoots HD and is a snap to use - turn on and enjoy! For most shots with my HV20, the only thing I ever bother doing is hitting the White Balance button so the colors don't look funny.