WTB Digital Camcorder under $400

I'm new to the digital camcorder scene, so I have no idea what to look for. Is anyone fairly knowledgeable in this area willing to share some features to look for in a camcorder under $400?

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dynamik

Make sure it supports night vision!

Look for a decent optical zoom, an option to add an external mic, and 720p or higher. The size and quality of the LCD and image stabilization seem to be other big features to look for.

Edit: This is a year old, but it should still give you a good place to start: http://www.pcworld.com/article/125646/how_to_buy_a_digital_camcorder.html

tiersten

dynamik wrote:

Make sure it supports night vision!

Because you like shooting video when its dark or because nightvision cameras use IR and there happens to be a lot of IR transparent clothing materials out there?

Decent resolution and decent optical zoom are the main things to look out for. Trawl around the review sites for these and see how good the video is. Some of them have really great sounding specs but the video is nasty from bad optics or ultra high compression.

darkerosxx

Think I'm gonna get this guy:

https://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665291488

It's small and has a 30GB HDD to record to or can record to memory stick duo/pro duo. Looks like a pretty good low-mid level camcorder.