What kind of camcorder should I buy?

What kind of camera (camcorder) should I buy to shoot my first low-budget film?

• I am about to buy a camcorder and shoot some no-buget film ;) but uh, should I use Mini DV, a camera with a built in Hard Drive (HDD) or with Flash Memory...and why? And which brand is best? And how much should i spend new or old? And my computer doesn't have a Firewire connection...and I have Vista Thank You all very much

• Answer:

  If your computer doesn't have FireWire, consider buying a FireWire card to install for your computer, they're not too expensive. I still go with MiniDV simply because of the quality and widespread support. Just about every editing program ever made supports DV, and the quality beats the rest anyway. It's all about compression, you can read up on the technical reasons. Don't worry so much about brands, think more about individual cameras based on features, design, and so forth. All the big manufacturers do a good job; I've used Panasonic, Sony, Canon, and JVC and been happy with all of them. But again, look at individual cameras. For example, one Panasonic model has the Firewire port inside the battery compartment, so you MUST use wall power if you want to use Firewire. Bad design there. However, other Panasonic cameras are great. Just look for which one meets your needs for the best price. As for how much you should spend, that's entirely up to you, and what your budget and needs are. Good luck!