What camcorder can you recommend for around

I can highly recommend Sony's, but they've moved on since I picked up mine. I personally would always go for Mini DV, but then I do all my video-editing on my PC and then author my own DVDs. Worth going to a shop like Comet or Jessops with a good selection and have a play with them as that helped me narrow down the choice!

Things to think about....

- battery life

- optical zoom (ignore digital zoom)

- weight and feel in your hand

- low-light performance (if that's important)

- DV-in as well as DV-out?

- do you want to use it on a tripod?

- do you want to use an external mike with it, or are you relying on the built in one?

Chris

Go for mini DV. I just use my camcorder for recording family events etc. No need for a professional jobby with image stabilisation and weird and wonderful effects. Bought firewire cable and video editing software off Ebay for £25 and do all the effects on the computer. My JVC Camcorder cost me £250 including a shoulder bag, spare battery and 2 tapes. The quality is just as good as my mate's £500 JVC.