<p>When I asked my college freshman S what he’d like for his upcoming birthday one of the things he suggested was a “good” video camera. I looked briefly at Walmart but was overwhelmed by all the possibilities. Anyone have any recommendations or things to look out for? A co-worker said she’s heard good things about Flip video cameras.</p>
<p>One thing to consider is the ease of transferring the video to his computer.</p>
<p>My kids have Flip cameras and really like them. They are super easy to use. The earliest model only had 60 minutes of taping capacity which I thought was plenty but the kids say it isn’t because if they go on a trip without a computer, they can’t download the video and then shoot more. So you should go for the 120 minute version. If you order online through Cafe Press (more expensive than Walmart), you can have the camera customized with all kinds of great pictures and patterns. I had one made for an Indian friend with a mehendi pattern (like the henna on a bride’s hands). It turned out great.</p>
<p>Does your S enjoy video editing? He might want something with more features than Flip or similar entry level camera. We gave DD a Sony video camera after seeing her pretty fancy editing of our old mini-DV movies.</p>
<p>Here is a great place to start looking (I buy all photo, video and many computer gadgets from them):
[B&H</a> Photo Video Digital Cameras, Photography, Camcorders](<a href=“http://www.bhphotovideo.com/]B&H”>http://www.bhphotovideo.com/)</p>
<p>B&H has very helpful reviews written by customers as well as some videos with demos of products. Despite my rants about Sony computers, Sony cameras are still the best for home videographer. Another great brand is Canon.</p>
<p>I think you need to find out what your son means by “good”. Does he want to shoot in low light? Does he want HD? Does he want to edit the videos? Does he want zoom? What cameras has he been looking at? What do his friends have?</p>