Best video camera and format?

[dave walbridge]

Time to upgrade; and the prices keep coming down...so what's the best video camera out there?

Need one to shoot promo vids, youtube clips and archive shows...any hints as to what to get?

Dave

[Evan Young]

canon HV20

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-HV20-Camcorder-Review.htm

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...erformance.htm I read this review and bought it. I taped one show with is so far and I'm pretty happy. actually watching the vid from last night right now. Blacks are black and whites are white with very little noise
I kind of like that it looks like a cheep little crappy little camcorder, so I don't feel pretentious or like someone is gonna follow me to my car to jack me. It's also small and easy to throw in the bottom of my backpack. I got it for $730 after express shipping, but it looks like the prices went up a little in the last week.

new info i learned. 3 chip CCD is going out of date. CMOS censors are the new thing, and one of those can be better than 3 CCD for color.
For stage shows you want to make sure that you can adjust shutter speeds because the light meeter on most camcorders over exposes under stage lights.

if you want super pro results under stage lights you need to spend 3k per camera and lots more on sound gear and all kinds of stuff like that. you need to really think about what you are going to do with the camera.