What's the best camcorder you can buy?

Camcorder ?!?!? Whats the best for us to buy? ?

• My hubby & I have been looking at camcorders, trying to pick out the best for our lives & budget. We have twin boys that do about every sport there is, that's the main reason we want to get one but there are so many different varieties to pick from and they are so expensive that we're stumped. We would really appreciate some advice. I know we need a good zoom (football field) and we don't want to mess w/tapes. We've been looking at primarily sony & panasonic. But I would like to keep this purchase as cheap as possible (would love to pull it off for $300 or less). I had my eye on the Sony Handycam DCR-DVD610 Hybrid Recording Camcorder. Truth be told we get so frustrated looking, we feel totally out of our comfort zone because there are so many selections and then we're unsure of things like...do we need to buy extras? Any suggestions for a camera & the best place to purchase one? Thanks so much for any recommendations!

• Answer:

  An important factor in price is where you buy the camera. I recommend B&H (www.bhphotovideo.com). They have the best price on everything, and an incredible selection as well. I've bought all my pro gear from them for years. The specific camera you were talking about: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/537996-REG/Sony_DCR_DVD610_DCR_DVD610_Hybrid_DVD_Memory_Stick.html The only three brands I'd recommend buying are Sony, Panasonic, and JVC. (I have a professional prejudice against Canon... I just think their video products suck. If you want an opinion on Canon, I advise you ask someone else :D ) The only warning I'd give you is that my recent experience with Sony cameras that record to memory sticks hasn't been good. The file format Sony has chosen is notoriously difficult to work with and is impossible to get working on Macs. Someone else with a lot of time on their hands may have gotten it working, but I quit after a few hours. I'd also advise against cameras that record directly to DVD. First of all, there's always the chance the disc will fail to finalize and everything on that disc will be lost. Second, MPEG-2 (the video format for DVD) gives fair quality at best. As far as quality and media type, I still think tapes are the way to go. They're sturdy and glitch very rarely if you keep a clean tape head; they're easily transferred to any type of computer; and, of course, they deliver superior video quality. Just keep them away from your degaussing machine. :D Quality MiniDV tapes have become pretty inexpensive, too. As with anything, you ultimately get what you pay for. The only for-sure recommendation I can make is B&H -- they will have what you're looking for at the best price. Look under "video consumer" and use the search filter to find what you think is the best deal. Footnote: If you find a camera that uses CMOS sensors instead of CCD, that's a big plus. 2nd footnote: Never take digital zoom into account; only optical zoom counts. Digital "zoom" is nothing but image cropping.