Cheap Micro Mini DV camera

In the midst of the CVS pharmacy disposable digital video camera being hacked someone asked me if there are any other reasonably priced small digital video cameras.

Just the other day I was mentioning the Philips GoGear and that really is about as small as they come. The only problem with the GoGear is that it only has 128MB RAM and no way to increase it. Consequently you're limited to only being able to record for 30 minutes.

A couple of alternatives are available from Aiptek, namely the DV3100 and their other more powerful cameras in the same line, particularly the DV4500.

The DV3100 has a mere 16MB of RAM but you can increase that by plugging in a Compact Flash memory card. The DV4500 records higher resolution at greater frames per second and utilises SD/MMC instead of CF for storage. Both cameras function as USB mass storage devices and so will work on Linux.

Both the DV3100 and the DV4500 are available from amazon, the DV3100 for less than 100 USD and the DV4500 is available for just over 100 USD.

Have you tried any other low cost DV cameras?

Have fun making your own home movies, if you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com