Hi all,

Up to now I've been an amateur photographer not videographer. So camcorders are a little beyond me at the moment, and I'd like some advice...

We're looking to get our first digital camcorder - mainly holiday stuff and motorsport events to start with, but probably will have kids in a couple of years, when I can see it getting a lot more indoor use.

Issue:-
I can't decide whether to go for HD or SD. I'm happy with the HDD vs SDHC media-options (don't want Mini-DV or DVD media), but I'm unsure whether to save money now and go for SD as it'll be easier to process on my (older) PC, or whether to future-proof the camera and go straight for HD, upgrading my computer as I go along...

I'd decided to save the money, but then realised that all my shortlisted SD camcorders lacked optical stabilisation. So I'm back thinking 'buy once' and get the HD now...but that'll give me a processing headache on an older PC until I get that upgraded (...and even then it'll take longer from what I'm told...).

Parameters:-
Budget up to £500, but less if possible, particularly if going for a std-def camera.
Want to be able to watch the footage on TV, not just on a PC monitor.
Don't need anything fancy, just good quality video and decent sound, plus a few manual controls to tweak.
Compact size is a must.

Shortlists:-
SD - Panasonic H40 / H280 and Sony SR210 seem to be the only ones with optical IS (Pana S7 apparently has a good elec system) - have I missed anything WITH optical stabilisation for less than the HD ones below???
Liked the look of the Canon FS10/11/100 but not sure about lack of IS.

HD - Canon HG10 / HF100, Panasonic SD9, Sony SR10


Any/all advice gratefully received.

Thanks,

Martin.