SD/HD newbie needing advice pls!

[liamt]

Hi peeps.

ok, im looking at getting my first video camera and i would like to ask the wise old sages here for some advice.

first of all im not sure on which format to go with. im slowly moving to Blu-ray, have a ps3, yamaha 7.1 av amp (not sure on model number), toshiba 42" 1080p HD TV (again forgot the model number) and mordaunt short 7.1 speakers (large ones not satellites)

instinct tells me to go HD, as i hate starting a new hobby then finding out ive bought the wrong thing and having to buy better, wasting my money first time round.

BUT with HD i would need a Blu-ray writer, BR media, new HDD (although i could clean some space off my current 320GB) and a HD camera (and loads of [mini]SD cards i guess too!), whereas if i go SD i have dvd-writer, media and adobe cs3 version of premiere so my setup costs would be much cheaper (plus a cheaper cam i guess)

how good are HD cams? would i be better off getting a better quality SD cam over a cheaper end HD cam? i dont want to spend silly money as im not sure how much the cam will get used. it will mainly be for my dog (she loves football/soccer), holidays and trying to get some footage of my family before they all die off! lol

im a big fan of surround sound so would love dolby digital capabilities over stereo. and since i guess i will be filing my dog i would like a cam that can handle plenty of motion.

any comments welcome. ideally i would like to purchase this week, as we are away at a festival soon and would like to capture it.

edit: does adobe premiere cs3 handle HD content natively? what format is HD captures in? a mate of mine has a sony HD cam and he cant find anything to edit his film with.

[liamt]

bump?

[twoodley]

To save me having to type it all again please see here

Terry

[liamt]

thanks mate.

i bought a Panasonic HDC-SD10 today anyway. lets just hope its as good as people seem to think.

[A n d r e w]

The SD10 gives good results outdoors in bright light. It's not so great indoors.

[liamt]

oh well.

its really a starter for me, if i use it enough i will maybe get a better one next year. i love the fact its so small so i can take it everywhere.