Digital movie camera question

[musiclawyer]

My daughter is interested in cinema and directing etc and wants a digital movie camera for her 13th birthday. Does anyone have recommendations of a goodd/affordable camera for amateurs. Is there anything else she will need, such as software for sound/mixing/adding music etc.? Thanks.

[NewHampshireDem]

1. Since she's only 13 ...

I'd recommend an inexpensive model. For the most part, the resolution, etc. are going to be fine for whatever she'll be doing with it. If she gets serious, you can later look for something more expensive. I myself have a Sharp Viewcam I picked up for under $500 3 years ago. I like the fact that you can record without looking like you're working for the evening news. :)

As for software, Windows MovieMaker 2 is free and works great. You can edit, add credits, music, etc. Again, it should be able to handle anything she'll want to do and is VERY easy to use, IMHO.

You'll also need to buy and install a firewire card (unless you spring for a USB2 camera, in which case you'll need a USB2 card). You can find them online for not much money ($30 or so).

<on edit>
You might post over in the computer help/support group, too.

[BlueJazz]

2. I like this one a lot...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6957607&type=product&cmp=++&id=1099383173899

It's $331.99

[NewHampshireDem]

3. That one looks good, IMHO

But it appears that the USB2 will only transfer still images, and not the video--that may not be a problem, since the still image capture on most DV's is for crap.