I am looking for a fairly basic setup. A Digicam for recording, the only editing I require will be to cut out sections, add some music and some fancyish titles.
It is not for film making just home and family stuff.

I did consider a Digital Camera with recording abilities, I am an avid still photographer, but with the price of lower end Digital video Cameras thought against it and I have a fairly good DSLR set in Canon 5D and Oly E510 so rarely use a digicam.

What would be the best Digicam and software to go with being a total novice

Thanks in advance for any help

A cheap mini dv model from Argos, Dixons, or Jessops would do. Get either a Sony, Canon or JVC, you can't go wrong with any of them and you already have Windows Movie Maker on your computer. You can upgrade your editor later to somethng like Adobe Premiere Elements 3 for around £65, (there is a version 4 out but recent reports on here advise staying away from it). Also purchase a Firewire cable and use the Firewire connection to transfer video from the camcorder to the computer hard disk.

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

Many thanks for the feedback

Just use your digital cameras for taking still pictures with and use a digital camcorder for video work.

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

How do you rate the Panosonic NVGS80, or is there better at around £200 I am comfortable going up to 250.

I have firewire and usb 2 to download and will use window movie maker initially

Thanks for your help

Have a look at the NV-GS230 on the following website instead...

NV-GS230 | mini DV Camcorder | Panasonic Global

I see it is on sale for around £235 - £240 and is a much better specced camcorder than the GS80, maybe the 10x zoom is too small but it does have 3CCD, more connection sockets and better manual controls.

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

Ok many thanks for that, the NVGS80 was recommended by a retailer because of the lower light lens 1.8, aperture, my budget goes to 250 ish no problem, just want to get the right start at this price, any others worth considering?

Thanks

Phil

It would need more than a lower light lens?? to sway me to buy it, some of the reviews I looked at this morning were less positive about the GS80 camcorder, from it's plasticy build and feel, awkward controls and hard to access sockets (Firewire and USB). I tend to look at the overall package rather than just one or two BIG selling points. All camcorders give a less than perfect picture in low light conditions, so I would tend to stay away from low light filming as much as possible, switch on as many lights in the room as you can to illuminate dark corners or buy lights (500w) from a builders suppliers with stands.

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

Thanks Nikonsony good advice, is there anything else in this price range worth considering?