If I were buying a new camera these would be the must-haves and the desirables.

Must Haves:

1. miniDV
2. Mic socket
3. Headphone socket
4. Accessory shoe
5. Good reviews

Desirables:

1. True 16:9
2. 3CCD
3. 20x optical zoom or greater
4. Manual focus ring on lens barrel (as opposed to a tiny wheel)
5. Top loading tape compartment
6. Outstanding reviews

I totally agree with Alan about built-in effects. They are more of a distraction than a benefit. I would prefer a camera that has a strong set of manual features - preferably hardware accessed (ie via physical buttons) as opposed to menu accessed.

I'm not sure about whether the 230 is top-loading. The 180 and 300 are, so you may be in luck. If you plan to do a lot of tripod-mounted filming and require a quick tape changeover then top loading is very useful. Otherwise, I wouldn't get too worried about this feature.

For me, true 16:9 is important. It frustrates me playing back 4:3 footage on my widescreen telly.

4:3 is fast-becoming a very redundant ratio, in my view.

Ultimately, the quality of the films that you make are dependant mostly on the skill and creativity of the user. A good filmmaker could produce a quality result with the cheapest of cameras. Here's an example of what I mean:

http://www.videoforums.co.uk/summer-...-hell-you.html

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