What is the best 3 ccd mini dv camcorder on the market for doing mini docuementries on YouTube?

Question

I want to do a video business update blog to my clients once a week. I'm going to use YouTube as my portal I'm looking for a good cameral with high quality picture. I have to stay under $1000 for the camera. I don't need a lot of manual controls but ease of use is important. We already know how to do the lighting.

Answer 1

Nu'uanu is right to focus on the audio - I think you'd be wasting your money insisting on the colour fidelity of a 3 ccd camcorder if you're going to let YouTube convert it.  If people can't hear what you're saying though...

Answer 2

Covering the lighting is great - you did not say how you were going to cover the audio. If you are takking care of audio externally, then you do not need to read further. If you want the camcorder to take care of the audio, keep reading.

Any camcorder with a Mic-in jack and manual audio control will work.

The cheapest camcorders that have these are the Canon HV20, HV30, Sony HDR-HC7 and HC9. All use CMOS chips. All can do standard definition (DV) and high definition (HDV).