| Mike,
The reason why you've had no responses, I'd guess, is that what you've asked is one of those, "how long is a piece of string" questions.
I'll rephrase your question, and make it relate to a few other areas, after which I think you'll understand why no one has ventured an answer:
Car
I'm on the hunt for a car. What should I be looking for when searching for a car? Any brands/models you can recommend? Or ones to avoid?
I don't know how much I want to pay, but probably don't need a Ferrari or a Roller as my first vehicle.
Hi-Fi system
I'm on the hunt for a Hi-Fi system. What should I be looking for when searching for a system? Any brands/models you can recommend? Or ones to avoid?
I don't know how much I want to pay, but probably don't need a top-of-the-line B&O job for my first stereo.
House
I'm looking to buy a newly built house. What should I be looking for? Any building firms in particular you can recommend or reckon I should avoid?
I'm not sure if I want a bungalow or a chateau, but what ever it is, it probably won't need 70 bedrooms, trout stream and helicopter pad.
So, what should you have said?
What you plan to shoot on the camcorder - family, friends, hols, events, wildlife, drama, whatever.
What you plan to do with the footage once you've shot it - put it on DVD; uploaded it to the net; play it from your PC via a network media player; put it on boring old VHS, whatever.
Whether you expect to shoot hand-held, shoulder-mounted or on a tripod most of the time.
What you want the camcorder to record to - Hi8, VHS, MiniDV, DVD, solid-state, whatever.
The timescale in which you are looking to buy
What your max/min price-range is.
With those sorts of clues, we'll have something to go on.
Bob C |