Page 1 of Camcorder advice

I`ve resisted the temptation so far, but with the recent arrival of our little smasher I think a camcorder purchase is now inevitable.
So what does anyone suggest for minimal outlay? I don`t think I`ll need all the flash twiddly bits, just something inexpensive to record his growing up. Do I need digital (thinking long term) or is Hi8 ok? Viewcam-type screen things look handy.
Any advice appreciated
IH

If you are on a tight budget go for Digital 8 I would same quality as DV but cheaper but camcorders can be a bit big than DV models. But if you can afford the extra £100-200 go for the DV I went for one without a screen because of increased battery life and the more flaps and hinges on any electronic equipment the more chance of it getting broken. Digital 8 is firewire compatiable so if you have a PC with firewire card you can edit digitalty with it. Model recommendations Sony DCRTRV140 which about £310 on the market. This has USB streaming and firewire.

Ravi Mann

I have had a couple of camcorders now with my current one a Hi8 Canon model which cost me £850 in 1996.

It does depend on your budget but I would go for DV now just because of the size of some which are so much smaller than mine and which you will find you get more use from it due to it being smaller to carry around.( I carried mine around OZ for 6 weeks!!)

I have had a look for friends recently and love the Panasonic NV-GS1 which can be bought for only £385.00 delivered below!

http://www.askdirect.co.uk/uview?call=ask.productSearch&id=1483

DV in is nice but can add another £100 and most people just copy to VHS anyway. Also editing on computer is a nice idea but the reality is not as easy and you need a fast PC with a BIG hard drive to do it properly.

If are considering others:

Optical zoom good - Digital crap
Image Stabilizer - Optical is best but digital is better than nothing.