Camcorder advice

[EAM Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close EAM]

Any advice on what to look for in a camcorder and video editing software that runs on a PC (with a FireWire port) running Windows XP?

What are the pros and cons of recording to DVD, memory card, hard drive, or digital tape (or any other type of media I'm not aware of)?

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

My BIL is in the market for one. He wants me to shop around for it. I am still using but not even using the compact C tapes. I liked having the ease of popping the tape in the VHS. I have always liked Panasonic but look at Sony to and for a good value JVC. When you have have a model that you want be sure to shop online for the best prices. Use different search engines like www.froogle.com www.shopping.com www.nextag.com and so on. One word of advice do not look for a high Digital Zoom, Look for a high Optical Zoom, Optical is natural zoom where as the digital zoom is digitized and will distraught the picture.

[BobP Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BobP]

Here is a fantastic site for all things camera. stevesdigicams.com

Anything and everything including, reviews, recommendations,testing for cameras and camcorders

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

I would second the suggestion to look at stevesdigicams.com, it's a great site.
Also, I second Franks suggestions in looking at Panasonic and possibly JVC. Sony makes some really nice equipment but for many of their cameras and vedio equipment that use menory cards they use their own menory stick. I'm not a big fan of the memory stick as it is not made by as many folks as the more common SD cards or Compact Flash, you can usually find better sales on these media.
Also, the suggestion to forget the size of the digital zoom they try to sell you and look for one with a high optical zoom is right on.
There is a lot of good editing software out there, but keep in mind that most of the stuff that will come with many cameras is usually some very basic software and does not have a lot of sophistication like the standalone packages.