equipment recommendations

[Iverson, Jana Marie]

Hi Peter, Thanks very much for the input.  I had  this impression from what I've read, but our IT person has really been hounding me to buy one of these, so I'm glad to have testimony that this is not a good idea!  All the best, Jana

From: info-childes at googlegroups.com [mailto:info-childes at googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Gordon, Peter
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 12:14 PM
To: info-childes at googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: equipment recommendations

Jenna,

I'm not sure what's the best, but stay away from DVD camcorders.  The format is so inaccessible that you will not be able to use it with any kind of coding program.  We had to abandon brand new cameras because of this problem.  I believe that mini DV is still the most accessible format that you can transfer directly to editing and coding programs straight from the camera, but there are probably others with more expertise here.

Peter Gordon


Peter Gordon, Associate Professor

525 W 120th St. Box 180

Biobehavioral Sciences Department

Teachers College, Columbia University

New York, NY 10027

Office Phone: (212) 678-8162

FAX: (212) 678-8233

Web Page: www.tc.edu/faculty/index.htm?facid=pg328

________________________________
From: info-childes at googlegroups.com on behalf of Iverson, Jana Marie
Sent: Mon 4/21/2008 11:43 AM
To: info-childes at googlegroups.com
Subject: equipment recommendations
Dear all, I have received excellent advice from this listserv before and am hoping that I can count on you once again to steer me in the right direction.  Our well-loved and used camcorders and microphones are just about to be retired and we are seeking to replace them.  This seems to be more difficult than in past years as some of the features that we count on are no longer available on many models.

We collect all of our data in infants' homes, so mobility and dependability are of great importance.  In the past, we have used miniDV camcorders with wireless microphones plugged into the camera's audio input jack (the microphone itself is positioned at shoulder level on the baby hidden in a vest worn over the clothes and the receiver is mounted on the camcorder).  This has yielded very good recordings.  As we've looked at new camcorders (miniDV), we've noticed that many no longer have the microphone jack, which is a big problem.  So, I am wondering if any of you have recently purchased video and audio equipment that you like and find reliable that you could recommend.  Since our sessions all involve fairly unstructured play and interaction, we need cameras that aren't too heavy and will still record good images in low lighting situations.

We recently purchased new microphones which seem all right, but the microphone itself is quite large and has been the object of much exploration by little hands.  So any suggestions for wireless microphones that will interface with a miniDV camcorder would also be appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help!  I will post a summary of your responses to the list.

Best regards,
Jana Iverson

Jana M. Iverson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology and Linguistics
University of Pittsburgh
3415 Sennott Square
210 S. Bouquet St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Phone: (412) 624-6160
Fax: (412) 624-4428
Email: jiverson at pitt.edu
http://www.pitt.edu/~icl






--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Info-CHILDES" group.
To post to this group, send email to info-childes at googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to info-childes-unsubscribe at googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/info-childes?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/info-childes/attachments/20080421/93258077/attachment.htm>