I remember when we bought our first camcorder ages ago when our son was a baby.  It was a big, bulky thing which was very tiring to hold up for an extended period of time.  Then we eventually got a “smaller” one which would still be big by today’s standards.  Several years ago, we finally bought one that is small and easy to hold.  If you look at current digital camcorder reviews, however, they have even smaller camcorders that don’t require tapes.  We’re not that up-to-date technologically speaking, but I’m satisfied with what we have!