[Smillz]

I believe this is the correct section...

Well for christmas my mom is looking to buy my dad a new video camera within the price range of $400-$500.

She asked me to help out but I really don't know where to start, he will use it for just recroding the usual stuff. I just want a camera that has a really nice picture, is easy to use but still has many features and something I can edit with on the computer. I believe hd camera's are at their peak right now? 3ccd still or have they advanced in the ways of producing the picture?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[mduell]

3CCD HD is fantastic, but way out of your price range (about $3k).

Your price range is kind of between the SD and HD ranges... either the Canon ZR850 for $250 or the Canon HV20 for $750... both Consumer Reports picks and well reviewed by others.

[Smillz]

Thanks for the help!

We use 3ccd in school and I knew they were fantastic but I had no idea they had that price tag. Any chance in getting a nice hd camera in the $500 range?

[Big Mac]

I'm very happy with my HV20, and the price has been dropping. There was a Circuit City deal that got it down to around $650, I believe. It's one of a couple consumer camcorders that has a mic-in port. OTOH, you may want to consider a hard drive based camcorder instead because they're getting popular (if you go that route look for iMovie compatible models), but I'm a minidv supporter.

[Veltliner]

Your price range is just a bit short of where it gets interesting.

The Canon HV20 with its 24p capability would definitely be great. Only editing the 24p footage is troublesome, as iMovie doesn't do it, and Final Cut Express doesn't do it, either. There is some way to edit 24p footage in 60i on Final Cut Express, but I have not done it myself. 24p editing is, unfortunately, much cheaper for the dark side, ah... the PC 90% of the world. The problem is, that there is a complex pulldown involved, where progressive frames are recorded in interlaced mode on tape.

But still, the HD footage of the HV20 is great, and even if you want to watch it in SD, the HD footage, downconverted so SD, beats any native SD camcorder.

If you really want to stay within your 500$ limit, you can only buy an SD camcorder. Which is no problem, as there are some good ones.

If you can find a refurbished Panasonic gs500, a 3CCD camcorder with large CCDs (and better low light sensitivity), that would be interesting. Or maybe you can get a new unit of this discontinued model. The gs320 has smaller chips, but is a decent 3CCD camcorder, and inexpensive.