I know next to nothing about camcorders. The best I can tell, they have something to do with video. Other than that, any advice about purchasing a decent, inexpensive one would be appreciated. What is the differences in formats? What is the leading format? What features will I want to look for? What can't I live without? My wife and I are adopting baby. The birthmother-to-be is due at the end of March or the beginning of April. We thought we might like to catch a few things on video in the weeks, months, and years to come.
The Canon Z series of cams are good. They shoot on DV tape which is what the majority of people use. Easy to firewire into your computer or just hook directly into you tv from the camera.
I just got one that shoots onto a 20gig HDD in the unit...fits in the palm of your hand...... I will look it up....pretty neat though. DD
I like the Canon Z-series, as well. Currently, I have a cheapo Panasonic something-or-other DV camera (PV-GS19, I pulled it off the shelf and looked) for simple home video stuff (I'm exclusively Panasonic all across the video camera spectrum now). It works well, too. Be sure and budget to get a better battery. The ones that come with the cameras are generally pretty low-capacity and you end up having to charge relatively often (on my old SONY VX2000, the battery that came with it held about an hour's charge, which was pretty well worthless).
Hey DD, how do you like that HDD unit? I'm guessing it's a JVC, right? I've been thinking about getting one - love the idea of not having to mess with tape or disks.
I have this little Sony DCR-HC30 camera. Its really good. Its a few years old now. It has this great night vision feature, which makes for some good "home movies."
