I'm in need of a camera for school this fall. The only thing is I have no idea what to look for. I've done video editing, but I've never had a camera of my own. I figure it's as good a time as any to get one now so I don't have to rely on the ones in school. Plus I don't know how good those are or the condition they're in. We're going to be using Final Cut, so I'm looking for something HD. Preferably with a hard drive. Currently I'm looking at the Sony Handycam HDR-SR12 and the JVC GZ-HD6 Everio. Anybody know if those are good or not? Or if anyone knows better, please do tell. Money is tight so cheaper would be nice, but if I have to skimp on quality, then I'll find a workaround.

Check out what Canon has to offer. I just picked up a Hv 20 for 600.00 bucks. Hdv is still the best format just check out all the prosumer cams they are still using hdv because the avc compression is still not up to par. I am going to pick up a Black Magic card so I can capture video directly of the ccd without compression. So to make a long story short I will have a great camera and killer card that will be broadcast quality for under a grand.

Special,

you will get a lot of advices on apple forum (Discussions) on Video forum check it.

Khaled

I have a Canon HV10 and I`m really happy with it, great colours, great resolution, and very small. Definetively check Canon's new models. And btw, I would stay away from hard disk based cameras at the moment. HD video uses too many space and you´ll find difficult to find a way to store all that data. Tape based cameras (as Canon HV10/HV20) still record in HD (1920x1080i/1920x1080 24p) and you just have to swap the tape for another 60 mins. Also HDV format seems to be better supported at the moment than AVHCD (tough the last seems to start increasing its popularity).

Oh man, I definitely double, triple (and more ) the HV20 !! The best value to price ratio the camcorder industry has ever released. The HV20 with a nice 35mm adapter and a vintage SLR lens makes some amazing footage.

btw the ones with a HD are overrated. The picture quality of good old DV tape has not been beaten yet in the lower price range.