Camcorder advice - Anyone using an HD pocket cam?

[drewmo]

Just looking for a little input on what people use for camcorders these days. I'm considering buying an HD pocket camcorder soon because I like to share the videos with friends and family via Youtube. I've been using a mini-DV for the last couple of years, but find it quite time consuming to go through the tapes, load a clip to the computer and convert the clip to mpeg so I can upload to Youtube. I now mostly use an old point & shoot digital camera that also records video directly to mpeg. The quality is OK, but I'm wondering if the HD pocket cams are a better option. I especially like the ease of storing and backing up the video on hard drives. Any thoughts?

 

[begreen]

I went from a Sony mini-dv to the Canon Vixia HF100. The quality difference of the output is quite dramatic and I like solid state recording. It really extends battery life and lightens the load to be packed for a trip. On the downside, the camera has no viewfinder, only the lcd screen. The key to working on the hard drive is to be organized, label, edit and save assets to a more permanent media. A good editor makes a lot of difference too.

 

[pyper]

I have one of the cheaper Canon SD cameras. It's great. Our last camera was a Sony Digital-8 Handycam.

The primary reason for getting a new camcorder for us was the need to attach an external microphone.

The Canon takes better looking video, and has better audio. It's easy to transfer the video to the computer -- just stick in the SD card. I use Sony Vegas for editing, and it works. Processing the video files to burn a DVD takes a long time. Maybe time for a new computer.

The Sony works better in low light. It also has an infrared light on it so you can shoot in total darkness, which is really neat, and fun to use while camping.