I'm looking at buying a video recorder in the next few days. I have a couple of projects that I need to fast-track for my business and video is the wave I want to ride.

I'm looking at digital camcorders as well as flash memory camcorders, and have no real idea what I need. Anyone who has some experience or knows where I can go to search for info/advice (Best Buy's customer reviews are not exactly helpful for this sort of thing)?

To be succinct, I need something that I can use to record video clips of me teaching classes, action shots (shooting at the range, hunting clips, etc), and that sort of thing. I need digital zoom, don't really need macro capability for fine detail, but need fairly crisp quality.

I'm planning to use editing software (Cyberlinke Power Director looks like the best one I've researched) to turn clips into finished videos, so editing functions on the camcorder aren't necessary.

Any experienced advice out there on the Campfire?

I would suggest spending $30 and subscribe to Consumer Reports online. There is an extensive buyer's guide for camcorders, ratings and recommendations.

This is where I always start... CNet Video Camera reviews
And then get frustrated by the quantity of information and the fact I can't find one, after getting 'just enough education to be dangerous' that has the exact features I want with good reviews so then I just walk in the store buy something.

I was in the same boat a few months ago.. Researched the pizz outta every camera I could afford.. Got headaches tryin' to absorb all the various info.

Finally settled on the Panasonic HDC-SD90.. 5 MP lens, digital zoom, HD capable, decent battery life, handy and easy to use - even for a techno-challenged geezer like me..

It has a shoe adapter slot, self-covering lens cap and 'shake' dampening that works quite well.. About $500..

http://panasonic.net/avc/camcorder/hd/90_series/

CR rates it as a "Recommend Best Buy".

Lee, how many minutes/hours of recording does the TM90 give you?

Thanks, Beargrease. I have resisted paying CR their membership fee because I so rarely buy "gadgets".

Battery life is 107 minutes per CR's test data.

It's not just gadgets. Lots of everyday things people buy.

I don't know if it will meet your needs, but there's a waterproof vidcam on woot.com today. (And ONLY today, as always.)

The highest rated camcorder was the Sony HDR-PJ580V. About $800. It has a built in projector, GPS tagging and a remote too. Spend the $30 ya cheap sawbones.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

Doc,
Maybe try contacting Doug @ Cameraland that advertises here ?

Doc, professionally, we won't buy anything but Sony. Of course, cost is is not the primary issue.

Definitely get one with HD capability. It will be worth it.
My Nikon D7000 photo camera gets better video than my actual videocam recorder
When getting the video cam 5years ago I got a few suggestions from the person at the counter. Technology has improved since then but at the time he mentioned that the ones that record on CD's might get bumped and you could loose everything from that point forward. (you think you are recording)
and those with hardrives do not perform well on the extreme weather environments (might be true or not).
We ended up getting a miniDV Canon Elura 100, handy little cam, but the motor records when in a quiet environment. No complaints, except that it will "only" record in 480p vs the new technology

As far as video editing software I am only familiar with the Pinnacle software and it is VERY easy to use and provides very good results for editing, music/soud tracks, transitions, etc etc.

Check on the Kodak Zi8. I have that one and it does beautifully. You can change between 1080p, 720p 60FPS, 720p 30FPS, and SD videos. It even has 5.1MP stills, but I don't use that. The best thing about it is the external mic jack, which allows you to use a better microphone, which Flip cameras do not have. As well as an SD card slot, which allows countless hours of recording.

I haven't yet had enough cause to find out.. But IIRC, it's something over four hours..

However, you can plug in the AC adapter that comes with (it also charges the battery in-camera) so you can run as long as there's power..

You might want to consider a camera that not only has digital zoom but also "optical" zoom as well. Digital zoom by itself is basically just "cropping" a segment of a picture, which is a feature that most any editing program can do. The drawback with digital zoom only camera is as you digitally "zoom" in on a specific feature you will gradually loose image quality and details will look blurred.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_zoom

Digital zoom was used to make the middle photo from the top photo, while the lens was zoomed-in optically for the bottom photo. Typically, the digital zoom would not be available until after the optical zoom had been exhausted