What's the best kind of camcorder that an amatuer can buy that has really good quality?

Easiest transfer to computer is with harddrive based cameras, 20gb minimum! look for 3ccd and the largest ccd possible, they come in half inch and 3/4", bigger the better. I find the biggest difference in the quality in similar cameras is the lens quality, look for schnieder though canon and sony are good the leica is easily the best for resolving fine details spend at least $5000 for a semi-pro less if its for webstuff where the quality doesnt really matter at small screen sizes. I like the panasonic HD cameras. get a fluidhead tripod for pro smooth panning try the avid free dv edit program for simple editing

You will definitely want 3 ccd's (charge coupled device), that's what gives you the "TV quality" images and colors. You will also want a DV camera that uses little miniDV tapes instead of a memory card or hard drive for best quality. To get a good broadcast quality camera you'll have to spend at least $3,500. There are cheaper 3 ccd consumer cameras, but they will not be nearly as good or have the features of a "prosumer" camera. Another feature you may want to look for is the ability to shoot in 24p or 24 frames per second, that gives a real movie look because it mimics the way that film cameras shoot. You also may want to consider if you want an HD camcorder, they're not much more than a standard definition camera. You will have to have a firewire (IEEE 1394) port rather than USB to transfer your video from a DV camera (USB can't handle the huge amounts of data required for high quality video). Be sure to do tons of research before you buy. P.S. I recommend the Panasonic DVX100-b, it's a great camera for the price and has lots of professional features like manual focus and 24p. It also has the best audio that I've seen compared to other camcorders in the $3,500 price range. Good Luck!

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Buy SONY MINI DV BASIC which has a memory slot in it.. around $300 from online