Hi all,

I'm very new to camcorders, current one is an old 8mm. It's only for used for family hols etc, but there are certain "features" I know I would like in my new one.

My question is: Does anyone know of a site that allows you to tick boxes or select from drop downs the features you want and then does away and returns all the manufacturers/models available with those features?

We're taking the kids to Lapland at xmas and want them to be able to look back in years to come and have a high quality DVD of their time there. Things I'll need to consider are size/weight/durability, light due to snow & limited daylight hours, and of course indoor filming with Santa etc, and to be able to come home & edit it on my pc and then burn to DVD.

The kind of things I think I want are...

DV In & Out
AV In would be nice (for future transfer of VHS to digital)
Optical Image Stabilisation
Good optical zoom (20x upwards)
Widescreen (true)
Firewire (my laptop has firewire but only usb 1.1 not 2.0)
Ease of use for a newbie

...and the really tough one, under £250 (the 4 day trip is already costing around £4k)

If I wanted a new PC there are loads of site that let you pick the various components you most want and then find all the closest matches, but i cant seem to find any sites that do the same for camcorders or cameras.

Any help and advice would be very welcome.

thanks in advance

Andy M

...what camera's would I be looking at to get all/most of my wish list...and to what would I need to raise my spend limit to?

I was looking at http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/prodi...islist=6~28~87, but don't know if this is any good???

Thanks again

Andy M

Since I didn't really get any feed back from my previous post, i've now been looking at a Samsung VP-D323 but can't seem to fond any reviews on it (although I have found a few comments on its little brother the D321)

Does anyone have any experience with this cam?

http://www.duck.co.uk/web/main/Produ...ze=&quantity=1

Just a couple of weeks till we go away now...PLEASE advise me!!!

My advice: stay away from Samsung. Especially that particular model! I wanted that model as a backup camera about a year ago. I tested it and it has an incredibly poor picture quality.

Thanks Mihai.

Do you have any suggestions at around the £200 mark?

As I explained earlier, I plan on shooting outdoors in Lapland (light quality won't be great) and obviously indoors, but also want good vid from summer hols as well.

DV In & Out / Firewire (my laptop has firewire but only usb 1.1 not 2.0)
Image Stabilisation
Reasonable optical zoom (20x upwards)
Widescreen (true)
Ease of use for a newbie

Stills would also be nice at 800 x 600 or more

Thanks again

Andy

Andy, Sony camcorders are the very best in respect to low light performance. So look at one of those.

Thanks again Mihai.

A little over my budget but the Sony DCR-HC46 seems to fit the bill reasonably well and so, unless someone advises me differently, I will probably go with that one.

thanks again for your advice

Andy

Sony DCR-HC46: http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/prodi...slist=6~14~113

But not from PurelyGadgets I hope.

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