I'm looking to buy a new camcorder?

Question

My budget should be from $200-$350. What better recording quality+features? DV or DVD? I would go for a JVC HDD camera, but my budget doesn't reach that. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

It depends what you will be shooting. Specifically, if you are expecting to capture good audio in REALLY LOUD or really soft audio environments, you won't find anything in your price range. If the audio is "normal" then you have a couple of choices.

Video quality is still best from miniDV tape based camcorders. Hard drive and flash memory camcorders are next. Worst video quality (especially for editing) is from DVD based camcorders.

For your price range, take a look at the Canon ZR 800, 900 and 930. They have a mic-in jack (but no manual audio control). To transfer miniDV tape video, your computer needs a firewire port. If your computer does not have one, they are typically cheap - and easy to add. You will also need a firewire cable. Firewire, i.Link and IEEE1394a are all the same thing. USB video transfer will not work.

Answer 2

You can have a look at http://www.epathchina.com, there are many cheap ones under $350, may be you will find what you need!