Hi - I'm looking to buy a camera but I've no idea which are highly rated

I'd like a DV with analogue input, image stabilizer, firewire output, 10x zoom and that's pretty much it...

up to £300 (can this be done?)

Any recommendations appreciated!

Thanks

P.S. My old video-8 camera has a LanC connection, can anyone tell me what this does?

[MarkE19]

You should be able to get your hands on one of the old Sony cams that have been replaced by newer models within your spec. Although you wont have many options as a cam with DV/AV inputs is taxed by the EU as a VCR, which as you might guess is more than for a cam. If you can try and stretch your budget a bit. Or perhaps have a look for a s/h cam.

Lanc is a connection for remote control of a camcorder by another cam or VCR deck. Was very handy before DV cams and NLE. Not that common anymore and certainly not required if editing on a PC.

Mark.

Ah right, sneaky tax man. Thanks Mark!

The JVC GRD53 will do everything you're asking and it comes in around £330-340 delivered from most places and is a pretty decent camera

I see the JVCs had some tape cleaning issues from some previous posts - I was thinking of something like the Canon MV700i - is it better or worse than the JVC?