Hi everyone, I've been into video/audio editing for a while, and I'd like to take it a step further...

I've been using my digital camera for most of my videos that I've made so far, and I'm now starting to feel the feature restraints, so I've decided to buy a second hand camcorder. I've got about £100 to spend - not much, but it seems as though I should be able to get a Digital 8, or low end Mini-DV camcorder for that price on eBay. Could any of you recommend a camcorder that I'll be able to get at this price? A few of the things I'd like it to have are...

16x optical zoom.
True widescreen would be fantastic, but I highly doubt any camcorders will have it at this price.
Good white balance, exposure, and sharpness (basically good picture quality).
Image stabilization.
Solid in design and functionality.
Manual controls are a must
Any other features that are good to have in a camcorder that I've not mentioned.

There are so many different models out there that I'm getting rather confused.

Thanks,

Matt

Well, you get what you pay for, but DV is an excellent mature format.

I have an old sony pc4 as my small cam - 100 quid of e bay and I love it.

__________________
I have two prejudices - I am anti HDV for consumer camcorders, and I eat mooks who claim to be pro wedding vidders and ask dumb questions.

www.zaskarfilms.com You tube channel 'zaskarfilms'
JVC DV5001e (big cam), Sony PC6E (tiny cam), Vinten pro5, PAG light, SM58, Sony ECM50, Sony C-76, 0.5x convertors for sony, Rode video mic, Vegas 7.

I've decided that it's probably best for me to save up (I've got myself a summer holiday job) and get one of these new HD cameras. Though I'm torn between the Cannon HF10 and the Sony HDR-S12 as the Sony has a 240FPS option for slow motion, but the Cannon doesn't - it has 24P/30P recording instead. Ugg... Hopefully I'll have chosen when the hols end.