[ainternational]

Hi

I've been doing a lot of research into buying a new camcorder (my first), and am getting closer to a decision, despite much confusion.

I have decided I want to go the mini dv route for the price/quality ratio.

I don't think I need High Def - too much data, expensive, my telly's not that great, just want to film our son, and sports/holidays etc.

Though I'm a novice, I like well-built, well-designed kit that'll interface with my mac well, and as a sound engineer, would ideally (but not necessarily) like either an external mic option, or good built-in sound (no motor noises, thanks). Smaller would be good - would like to be able to pocket it for snowboarding/motorcycling holidays.

I have so far tried:

1. my bro-in-laws Sony HardDrive camcorder - easy to use, convenient, but not great picture quality and very poor autofocus indoors. That, and the editing situation, put me off HD camcorders.

2. my mum's old canon MV4i , better picture quality though still fairly poor, great build quality; this is where I decided on tape - great to have an extra backup...

3. a Pansonic GS230 which I decided to buy last week from Jessops - had been seriously considering GS320, or SH GS400/500, but thought maybe I didn't need to spend that much so thought I'd give it a go- I guess I do need to spend more: the colours are good on the 230, but there's a lot of noise/jitter and the image stabilisation ain't great.

Jessops have very kindly agreed to take the 230 back with a full refund cos they can't find me a GS320 (very glad I didn't buy online), and I was thinking it's down to the Panasonic GS320 which can be had for as little as 350 euros now, it would appear (though from Redcoon in Germany - maybe not great for returns/warranty?).

However, reading your forums has made me wonder whether I should consider a Sony DCR HC96 (the Panasonic is a bit plasticcy and the design isn't top notch- it's a bulky beast with the vital extra-large battery making the eyepiece harder to use)?

Is the picture/focussing on the GS320 (Leica Lens, OIS) that much better than the GS230 (Panasonic lens, EIS)? Is this my best option, in spite of no mic input, no headphone out, and bulky ugly design? Or should I consider the GS300/400/500, or Sony HC96... or a Canon???

This has been ongoing for a couple of months- I want to make the right decision, and within the next few days for the sake of sanity! The HV20 is very tempting, but I don't think I can justify the expense at present. Around £250-300 is my budget

Please help!

(Great forum BTW, I have only made this post after much extensive reading!!!)

[rhubarbe]

I think you may have missed the boat on the HC96. It is discontinued and I can't find anybody who has any left.

[redsox_mark]

Agree....HC96 is now hard (impossible?) to find, at least new ones.
GS320 (or new 330) do have better image stabilisation than the 230, and a better lens.

[Vinesh]

ignore post.