[Getty]

Hi Guys,

I've been charged with the task of buying a camcorder for my sister who is getting hitched in 2 weeks time. Lucky me, huh?

She and her fella want a camcorder. And they want it to be as future proof as possible. My thoughts were it should be Hi-Def (1080p - as they've a large HD TV), have a hard drive to record to (HDD?) and the ability to top tha tup with SD cards (they travel a lot and this would be handy). HDMI and USB2 outputs too.

I'm guessing autofocus and white balance are pretty standard nowadays but optical zoom-wise, I think 10x would be minimum they'd be happy with - digital zoom to me is pointless as you're just zooming in on pixels.

If it were you, which specific camcorders (models and brands etc) would you go for? We'd like to give them a brand they would recognise if possible and I appreciate with the small budget we have, we're not going to get a Sony.

I'd really appreciate any help on this and any suggestions, places to buy on the web and links you may have. I'm UK based.

The Panasonic HDC-SD10 looks quite interesting though is slightly over budget.

Panasonic HDC-SD10 Black SDHC Card HD Camcorder price - Compare Panasonic HDC-SD10 Black SDHC Card HD Camcorders prices at CNET UK

THanks

Getty.