Hello, all!

Well, this is where I generally go for advice on things of this nature, so here I am again - this time, looking around for a new camcorder. My old Sony HC42 bit the proverbial dust awhile back.

I don't know exactly what my budget is like, but I'd imagine something below a thousand US dollars would be nice; probably more like seven hundred. Additionally, I've had some format issues and the like with Flash Memory cameras, so I'd really like to stick with MiniDV tapes. I don't know if HD video would be worth it, as the last time I tried to work with that, the sheer size of it slowed me down considerably. Granted, that was slightly older computer than what I'm currently using, so perhaps it would be something to look for. However, it seems like there might be other features that I should focus on, though I'm not sure what they would actually be.

So. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Canon HV30 is a good option. MiniDV.

Also, the Nikon D90 with kit lens is a good option, but will run you north of $1,000 depending upon who you purchase it from.

Both of these cameras are, as the term goes 'outdated', but the former is a great, compact, easy-to-use miniDV HD cam and the latter is a slightly unstable but very professionally-appealing, very settings-worthy DSLR which makes good use of video capabilities. Yes, there have been improvements over both cameras, respectively. These are, however, still great options.

Probably right now, I'd still drop the cash on the HV30/HV40 - you mentioned the pain of using flash cards (you're so right) compared with the convenience of DV, and you're so right. In the near future we'll just use memory cards, certainly, but only once everything is standardised and interoperable (like dv).

The HV30/40 are HDV, so you can shoot higher-def video on them, and in terms of editing they have the same bitrate as regular DV, so a moderately current computer should cope, or you can revert to DV if you prefer.

I am not going to stick my nose into this topic. For anyone who remembers video camera ideas...

And yet you did

It was nothing personal, believe me we'd had the self-same discussions dozens of times before...

Interestingly, the HV30 is the first camera that caught my eye when I began searching. With a bit of saving, that should be within my price range in the near future, so I very well may go with that

Also, good to know that I'm not just being old-fashioned in my preference for tapes, heh.

Thanks for the advice!

I'd go with HV30/Hv40.

But according to Wes, the footage from his $138 Samsung looks better than those "Hollywood kind" of cameras... so that could make things tough.