Both pictures and videos are great items by remembering your people to people experience but there is some concern I will bring upon this subject. I would personally recommend picking one or the other because of this reason. If you have a camera that takes video (or a video camera that takes pictures), the quality of them will be very low and really not worth the space it takes up (unless you bought like an expensive all in one device that can do the best of both worlds). I recommend to everyone that if you are choosing between one or the other, pick taking pictures. You can store a lot more images on the trip and it can be better for recapping the memories better than videos (Have you heard that pictures are worth a thousand words?). Video is very limited because you have much more concerns like how much tape you have left, battery power, is the lens focused, and so on. Most digital cameras are simple point and shoot and you can get great high quality photos with little skill with photography (keyword: "High Quality").

In a short point, buy a device that works specifically on one type of media because in that way, you know you are getting a little more better quality than a device that does ok with 2 formats.

If you are bringing both a video camera and camera, maybe let other people film besides you so that you can take pictures while someone else videos. Almost like 2 eyes on the trip and the person videoing can get shots of you. That is my recommendation for that because you will maybe want to get both video and pictures of the same thing but you only have time to pull out your camera or video camera. Also, another idea if you want videos but do not want to worry about bringing 2 devices, ask your other delegates to see if they are bringing video cameras because you can just get a DVD from the person taking the video after the trip. That is what I am doing with my last trip. I had 2 people video tape the trip and they both gave me all the footage so I can edit it.

If you are bringing a regular camera:

Make sure that you have a high megapixel camera so it can give you a better quality pictures.

Yes, the photos will take up a lot more space, but it is worth it because how often are you going to the places you are going to? Its always a bummer when one of your photo is too pixelated and you realize that after you come back after the trip.

Bring more than enough memory cards!

The first year I brought only 4 gigs of memory cards and I filled them all up within the 3/4 of the trip. I had to buy more during the trip and that was an expensive mistake. I spent $150 dollars on as much memory I could buy back in America for less than $40. Its a tourist trap and it hurts by having your budget being drained instead of getting souvenirs. I recommend bringing at least 6 gigs of memory at minimum. If you have a 8 megapixel or above, than make sure you have 8 gigs of memory or above. Better to have space left than running out fast. Go to Costco to find cheap memory cards.

Make sure that your camera is set to the highest quality setting for taking your pictures

Like I said, the better the quality, the more enjoyable and clear the picture will come out. Its worth it.

Before buying a new camera, read the reviews first! Important!

I recommend going to http://cnet.com and looking up your intended camera that you are wanting to buy and look at the pros and cons. Sometimes it will say that you get bad blurry photos at darker places and you don't want that. I recommend to stick with Cannon or Sony. They are great simple, digital cameras.

Get a camera with a big zoom!

This is great because sometimes landmarks are very far away and having this eliminates getting closer to the place. THIS IS VERY USEFUL TO HAVE AND RECOMMEND TAKING THIS IN CONSIDERATION. I used a 12x zoom in my camera and it worked great. I think even getting 16x or 20x will be better.
(WARNING, PLEASE READ: Some cameras might say digital zoom and thats bad. Digital zoom will make your pictures lower quality because all it is doing is zooming in the size of the picture. In result will make your picture more pixelated. Always pick optical over digital, remember that! Optical is actually moving the lens and not loosing the quality digitally.)

Use rechargeable batteries!

They are always a money saver because you will never have to buy batteries overseas and again, they will be expensive there because of the tourist traps.

Never record video on your camera.

The video takes up a lot of space and is most likely in very low quality. So not really worth the space. If you want video, bring a device that only focuses on video, not your camera for taking pictures.


If you are bringing a video camera:

Bring more than enough tapes!

Just like memory cards, it is very expensive to buy tapes over seas and in some cases, you cannot find them. I will let you be the judge in how much you want to bring but the question is how much do you want or is willing to record? I personally recommend the minimum should be 4-8 tapes.

Never record in LP (Always record in SP)

LP only means you are recording in a lower quality and you can get more video in one tape. But again, it lowers the quality and actually raises a risk of completely losing your tape!. This happened to one of the tapes I received from the other delegate only to find his tape completely destroyed. The time codes got corrupted and the tape is gone and all the video was lost. so never record in LP and always in SP.

Always have a tape handy!

You never now when you will run out of tape and it is always disappointing to not have an extra one on hand.

Make sure you have plenty of batteries or a good recharge life.

Video cameras drain batteries a lot and especially when a LED light is on. So make sure you have plenty of rechargeable batteries or battery packs.

Don't turn the camera too fast! (Or in other words, pan slowly.)

You cannot picture on what the video looks like on a TV screen when you are back at home. If you pan (or move across a area) to fast, you will not get a clear shot. I had lots of problems with that when my friend gave me the video. He was to jerky in most shots and was hard to get a clear video of something.

Always be still or slow when recording footage!

The slower the shot is, the better the lens can focus on what you are shooting at. The keyword is slow! This is the best way I can tell you that your shots will come out 100% better.

Big zoom is great but be careful by being extra slow on any far zoomed shots.

If you haven't noticed that if you zoom in with your video camera, your movement might be the same but your pan will speed up. The more you are zoomed in, the slower you want to move or pan.

About bringing a laptop:

I highly recommend not bringing a laptop with you if you are willing to make sure to know where exactly where it is at all times. Always lock it in your main suitcase and you are really risking it by getting it stolen. Yes, you can unload your photos to your computer but I think I would rather lose or get stolen a simple $20 dollar memory card than a expensive laptop. Your choice but it is a big item to worry about. I thought my cell phone was too much to worry about but I cannot imagine a laptop.