Hello people, its my 1st post so be gentle

I am looking for a new camcorder to film car rallies, ie forest and tarmac events. Im sure I want a Mini DV type as Ive read they are the best for editing and making DVD's, and I use 1 at the moment.

but I dont know what kind to get, Ive done a bit of research and my thinking is I need 1 with 3CCD and a good optical zoom, but I cant find 1 with a bigger zoom than 12x! (mine is 22x at the moment)

I started looking at the Panasonic NV-GS230/320 about 300ish new
then I started looking at the Canon XM1 about 550ish 2nd hand from e-bay, would I get any better footage from the Canon and if so how noticable would it be?

or am I looking at the wrong type of camcorder?

I would also like to be able to take a pic from the footage to put into a DVD cover

any help, Im sure will go along way


cheers

What is your actual budget? Yes, stick with Mini DV and yes I know it's difficult to get a large optical zoom on them, especially the 3CCD models. A picture taken using a camcorder will never be as good as one taken using a digital camera, from my experience. And also if cars are moving, it will be very difficult to get a sharp still picture as you won't be able to fire off enough frames in quick succession. The Canon would certainly have better optics, but I'll let the Canon owners on the forum give you the lowdown on that particular model.

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...

I could go to 500ish IF I was really pushed, but Id rather stay around 300ish!