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Flip Videos work great for this; I'm surprised no one else has mentioned
them.
Gary Schrock wrote:
> FWIW, we just use a standard Sony miniDV camera. Personally, I kind
> of wish the thing would die so we could get one that's hard drive
> based instead of miniDV, because transferring from tape to the
> computer is a 1:1 time based operation. With miniDV set on the longer
> record time, a standard tape yields 90 minutes of recording, which
> generally has been fine for the job talks we have.
>
> These days in general we just set the camera up on a tripod in the
> back of the room, with a view that generally includes the podium and
> the screen, and leave is set that way for the talk. Although if you
> get someone that likes to walk around a lot, you might get parts of
> the tape where they're off screen :). If a group wants more than
> this, I generally ask them to supply a grad student that can operate
> the camera (after all, they're generally at these talks). These video
> cameras are pretty easy to operate, so it doesn't take more than a
> minute or so to cover how to deal with it. But in general, our people
> seem to be satisfied with the static view (I finally convinced the
> powers that be that is didn't make sense to be paying me to sit in
> these, although depending on the exact area of specialty of the
> presenter, I could find it anywhere from interesting, to completely
> lost and I haven't a clue).
>
> The results I'd definitely say are merely adequate, not great. Even
> without an external mic, I find that it picks up the speaker
> adequately, but that might also depend on the size of your room. But
> for the purpose of someone to review the talk if they missed it, it's
> good enough.
>
> Also, we haven't had anyone complain about being recorded for such
> purposes. The impression I've gotten is that this is actually
> becoming fairly routine, although that could vary based on the
> department that's doing this.
>
> But basically, any decently reviewed camcorder with a tripod is
> probably going to be adequate. Possibly with some form of external
> mic. I'd definitely recommend going with a hard drive based on
> though, because otherwise you'll need a computer with a firewire card
> on it that can be tied up for the same length of time as the talk.
> Maybe I can arrange someone to accidentally drop ours.
>
> Gary
>
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