Let’s see how long this response goes…
Here is, for the sake of killing some time, my complete guide to mini-DV camcorders.
Modern mini-dv camcorders are pretty great when compared with how bad camcorders have been in past years of development. For recreational videotaping, familly home movies and unicycling vids, its pretty hard to go wrong.
For quality and expandability (cooperation with accessories), I reccomend Canon and Sony. I always buy Canon and Sony…although the new Panasonic HD camcorders look good. But that’s not what you want.
So, why Canon and Sony? Canon has a reputation for excellent lenses. Sony has a reputation for straight up reliability, which I can vouch for in my personal experience. I work at a university media center. I teach video editing, among other things. Video is my specialty, anyway. I also do some freelance video production. We have camcorders that circulate at the media center, which means students can borrow them. There is no greater test to the reliability of equipment. We have two Sony TRV27s that have lasted over two years of this abuse and are still going strong.
Sony is a little bit more expensive, but definitely worth it for that reliability factor. If you want something a little cheaper, Canons are also good. I haven’t used any, but it looks like the Sony DCR-HCXX series are very good for that $500-$800 range. They are exactly what I would buy in that range.
Another good thing about Sony & Canon is they are the only two manufacturers to support LANC devices. These are cool. I don’t know a lot of people that use them, but I wouldn’t work without them. LANC is essentially a wired remote control, which gives you zoom, focus and record controls without touching the camera. So, you can have those controls on the tripod, which will allow you to fluidly move the camera (pan, tilt, etc…) and control the zoom and the start/stop button at the same time without trying to fumble with the on-camera controls (which makes that fluid shot impossible).
Anyway, you may not care about LANC, so here’s some stuff you do care about…
Features you want to look at:
-Mini-DV. You said you wanted mini-DV, and that’s good. Generally, you don’t want DVD, Digital-8, or Micro-MV. Granted, the DVD cameras are great for easy home-movie type stuff. Take the media out of the camera and just watch it on a DVD player. But if you ever plan to do any editing, Mini-DV is really the only option.
-Chip size (CCD). Bigger the better. This is the unit upon which light is focused and then converted into a video signal. The bigger the chip, the better your image, generally. Although, it could be argued that a Sony Chip at X size is better than a JVC chip at X size. I’d say its easier to decide on a brand, then get the biggest chip you can get. Pro Camcorders have three Chips. Seperate chips for seperate color info, gives you a great image. Panasonic just released a $700 and a $1000 3-Chip camcorder. This is awesome, and would probably tempt me away from sony if I wanted a $1000 camcorder. Keep in mind there are 3 chips, but they are 3 Small chips, so they’re not “Pro” level.
-Zoom ratio. Just in case: Zoom lets you look closer at far away stuff - binoculars for you camera. The important part is Optical vs. Digital. “Digital” does not always mean good - check the dictionary if you don’t believe me. You want a big Optical zoom, if zoom is something your worried about. You shouldn’t pay any attention to the digital zoom. It doesn’t hurt the camera, but don’t consider it a good thing. The consensus among video type people is, just turn the digital zoom off when you take it out of the box.
-Big lenses. I’m not talking about “long” lenses. I’m talking circumferences. The bigger the lens, the more light can flow to the CCD (the "chip), the better your low-light footage will be. This is important for you indoor or night footage. You can pretty much forget about having a “big” lens with consumer level cameras, as they are designed for compactness. However, some are bigger than others, so you might take it into account. Also, most will have some sort of “night shot” mode. If you’ve seen the Paris Hilton video (who hasn’t?) this is what we’re talking about. Night shot can make things visible, but its not really the ideal solution. I think from my reading that Sony’s is the best, but I’ve personally never used Night shot on any camera.
-Screen. I think they all have a flip out screen, which is very convenient, not only for shooting, but also to watch your footage later for review. They range from around 2 inches to 3.5 inches. The big ones are definitely nice, but wach out - they will eat your battery. Which leads me to…
-Battery Life. Look into it. Enough said. Oh yeah, buying extra batteries is good.
Some features to avoid:
-Digital zoom…crap. See Above
-Tiny cameras. I know you’ve seen those tiny vertical-oriented camcorders. They can be real easy to carry, but they will have tiny lenses, which means crappy low-light footage. Shoot outside during the day and your fine. Also, jamming all those componets so tight makes them less reliable. Also also, tiny cameras usually mean short battery life.
-Steady Shot. There is no magic digital gizmo that will make your footage not shaky when you hold the camcorder in your hand. Optical steady shot is a little bit better, but your still just polishing a turd. If you don’t want shaky footage buy a tripod (or other support device…see “Steadicam JR”). There’s no way around it. Decent tripods can be had for not much money. The other side of that coin is, sometimes shaky isn’t the end of the world. Especially when your chasing a unicyclist, the shaky can be OK. If your interested, I can talk more about tripod tricks and simulated steadicam tricks.
-No-Names. I know I may take brand loyalty too far sometimes. But, please, don’t buy a GE camcorder. You get what you pay for, and crappy brand names sell crappy cameras.
If you have any more questions, just ask. Also…see next response for my number one-low cost DV camera tip…
I didn’t even know some of this stuff was humanly possible with unicycles…skateboarders should be ashamed…they have 4 wheels and you have only ONE!