I'm supposed to be getting a new camcorder for christmas from the in-laws, and they want to know what kind to get. I like to do things right the first time, so what should i ask for? This would be used for family and recreational stuff by various tech savvy and non tech savvy individuals. Ease of use is a definite plus. I don't know if this is the standard or not, but I'd like to be able to upload to the computer and edit/add music, and also be able to play stuff on the tv (be able to burn to dvd I guess).

get a NON-HD camera.... ten times less bullshit to deal with. unless you really want HD..



whats the price range ???

Dunno what the price range is, so I'm just shooting for "the awesome one" (within the realm of still being user-friendly for me).



What's all the bullshit that comes with an HD camera?

whats good from sony? 300-500 range

any minidv should be fine



all HD cameras use AVCHD format.... so that makes it much harder to edit. need NEW software ...

Well I don't have any OLD software, so what difference does it make? (genuine question, not trying to be argumentative)

So the wife was shopping with her mom at CostCo, and they saw the Canon FS10 on sale, so they got that.



It's not bad, I'm liking it so far. It's small, very small. Flash drive, so no motor whine, and the battery lasts longer. The vids I've taken don't have the best quality, but then again we don't have very bright lights in our house at night. I'm sure it'll be much better in daylight.



I haven't gone through any of the advanced features yet, but it's certain dummy-proof, being super easy to just turn on and go.



I'm not even bothering with the software that came with it. Found a program online called sdcopy, that converts the .mod files to .mpg files. I'm currently trying to edit it a bit in windows movie maker, just to get familiar with the process.

ive always had good luck with panasonic. my current panasonic videocam has been great when i dont lose the batteries and charger.



kevin.