Which HD camcorder?

[RClarke]

For the price? Canon HF100. You can find it for less than $700 with video quality that matches the sony's and JVC's previously mentioned in the thread. Just bought one last week I absolutely love it.

[Deadset]

We got the Canon HG10 earlier this year and have not been let down. The camera has high def recording capabilities, takes great still images, impressive zoom, great image stabilization, easy to switch between modes, and more importantly, extremely easy to use the software to make DVD's and mpg2 files.

The things I don't quite like about it, it needs bright light, although I think there's a setting for recording in dimmer settings, you have to have a power cord plugged in to connect it to the PC, the USB connection is underneath the LCD viewer, so you have to have that open when connected to a PC, and no manual focus.

Other than that, I love it. It is a Hard drive camcorder, just an FYI

CNET has a complete review here

[kurtlingle]

I bought the Canon HV20 for $675 (in March 08) and just love it. The HV30 (the newer model) is nearly the same.

It's a great camcorder and I love the 24p mode - which works great in low-light situations.

Some of my footage is stunning (on the beach - sunny days) and looks better than most OTA shows/news/ etc.

I also use Pinnacle Studio 11 plus for editing and creating Blu-ray AVCHD (on DVD). This will play in my PS3 and supposedly in most blu players. It's just a DVD with the video files in AVC. I can fit 40 min of AVCHD on a single layer DVD or 80 min on a dual layer DVD. It works/looks great.

[rogman]

Originally Posted by rogman

I've had my Sony SR11 for about a month. Used it for a trip to Disney World and love the video quality! Also takes awesome stills too! The convenience of doing both at the same time can't be beat. I took about 670 still images with about the 4 hours of video I took on the trip. All together I've taken about 6 hours of video and 1100 stills. The hard drive is near full now and I'm planning to buy a new PC to have the horsepower to create the hi-def DVD's. Will eventually get a BR burner too.

The Sony's performance in low light is a little hit or miss, and the autofocus could be a little better too. Overall, we've been very pleased.

The BIG downside for me is that I need to send it in for service. The touchscreen quit working and there's no way to get to most menu options w/out it. Also, I can't transfer any more files to PC (for backup) because you need the touchscreen for that too.

Camera's back- Sony repaired it very quickly and free of charge under the warranty. Luckily, they didn't need to format the hard drive so I didn't lose anything! Can't wait to burn some AVCHDs!