thanks guys, so am deciding to buy a minidv so which cam shall i go for? i also need a cam with good optical zoom to take far shots. I liked the Canon ZR800 how much would that cost? and i have heard that those minidv tapes get spoilt (catch fungus) after a few years. Is that true? also is there anyway to directly transfer the video from a miniDv Camcorder to the computer through the USB or Firewire ?