Over the last year as I blogged about birds, worms and bees I often imagined how much easier it would be if I had a good video camera. No longer would I need to take 30 or 40 still shots to get the images I needed for my next post.

After frustrating almost every camera store owner in Auckland over the last eight months, last week I shocked my family by arriving home with a shiny new camera under my arm. From time to time they unjustifiably accuse me of being over cautious when parting with my hard earned cash when in reality, its just about “being frugal”.

That aside I couldn’t wait to get started so after a quick flick through of the manual it was time to take this baby for a test run.

Sadly, my initial excitement was very short lived as this test run was more like a crash and burn. Upon downloading the first video I soon realised that my new pride and joy was a poor excuse for a video camera.

This camera was in fact “a dog” and a mongrel one at that!

Resolution and colours were grim at best and no matter how I tried to convince myself that “I could live with it”, I knew that I couldn’t.

After several days I decided that the best approach was to contact the retailer and advise them of my concerns. At first I was somewhat hesitant as the camera had been purchased during a store sale and I had been told that it couldn’t be returned.

What the heck, I made the call as already I hated this camera.

Much to my surprise the response was, “certainly Mr Dunn, bring the camera back and we will see what can be done”.

An hour later with my pocket a further $350 lighter I was back from the store with what I hoped would be a better model. Unlike the first this one recorded in high definition so the end results should be better?

This my first attempt features a cast of thousands.