[JayX]

my current camera (a DVL357) was faulty when i bought it without me realising it (bad heads meant picture was breaking up on playback, first only affected one tape, now affects all) means im about to send it back.. and possibly think about upgrading to a slightly higher model

but the one thing that slightly erked me about my camera was the fact there was no ext.mic socket. no lip for accessories, fine doesn't bother me.. bottom loader, again not a problem for me... no ext.mic .. hmmm well my main use for the camera at the moment is filming live music, and whilst im very impressed with the quality of the onboard mic, i'd rather pay 50/60£ and buy a nice microphone to mount on top to give a much nicer bass response... so surely upgrading to a higher model would do this?

well you'd think so.

i've looked up all the <£1300 models JVC offer, and not one has the socket. the DV3000 has an analogue in (A/V) but no mic. every other camera simply offers A/V out. why !? surely they expect people will want to improve the quality of the audio without having to shell out for extra equipment and have a friend holding a mic then spend ages syncing the damn things....

(i only have a choice of JVC and Panasonic as thats the only two brands the store seems to carry. none of the Panasonic's i've seen really suit me, and i've always prefered a slightly larger camera than the tiny ones. my belief is half the money is spent making the componenents smaller, and i'd much rather have a better quality output and useful features than the ability to stick it up my arse if needed.)