What brand/model of camera are you using that you like.

Frank

I have 2 Canon XL1-s cameras that I absolutely love. I also have 2 L2's and 2 A1's, but I don't use them anymore as I've tried to wean myself off HI8 and into Mini DV.

Sony TRV 900

A great camera (one of the first medium price 3 chip CCD). I bought it a couple of years ago and it was quite expensive. Now I'm sure it's almost free.

Look for a camera capable of FIREWIRE in and out.

Peter G
http://www.funnymagic.om

I don't think they make the Sony TRV 900 anymore... though you can still pick up a few at Best Buy.

I picked up a Panasonic GS 200 not long ago... they make a GS 120, GS 200, and a GS 400 (I think those are they correct model #s). This is a consumer grade 3CCD digital camcorder, MiniDV. It cost around $950 from Crutchfield.com.

This camcorder has gotten a ton of good reviews, and so far has worked extremely well for me. It is very small and has a decent amount of manual control.

If you are looking for something a little bit more high end, try the Sony PD 170. This is probably the best one I have used, and it's very standard in the DV video industry. This will run around $3000-$3500. It has all the manual control you would want, a very good lens, 3CCD, and a variety of other nice features.

Both the Panasonic I have and the Sony PD170 have Firewire in and out as well as S VIDEO in and out.

--Jack

Very important when deciding on a camera is not just how many chips it has but how larger they are. There are several "three chip" cameras but smaller chips. You should look in the specs to see if they are 1/3" (cheaper) or 1/2" (not cheaper!).

The larger the chips, the more light they gather. This is important especially if you will be recording in low light situations (like, oh, say, a stage

Also, when possible, when you transfer to a computer, use the firewire. You'll lose a lot of information from the picture if you use S-video or worse, that little yellow RCA connector (ahhhh!). By the way, any Firewire cam will be in and out.

If you get a Panny, you're getting a good camera. I never cared for Sony. They come from a computer/electronics background and all their controls are buried in menus on the camera. Panny (and Canon) have their manual controls as hard buttons on the camera body. Much easier to control the settings during a shoot.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but smaller camera doesn't always mean better. The bigger cameras are usually much better for several reasons. First (most important) is that they usually have bigger chips (see above). Second, when not on a tripod, they are shoulder mounted as opposed to handheld. Shoulder mounted cameras are going to produce a much more stable shot.

I personally favor Panny, but in the end it comes down to personal taste. (But I'll give you a hint... Panny's better!)

I hope this helps.

Warm regards,
Scott

I use 2 Canon GL-1's and sometimes an XL1. Which are like 4 or 5 year old technology... but still strong cameras.