What kind of camcorder should i get?

i am a 13 year old kid and i have an 8th grade graduation coming up soon. I love making movies with friends in the summer and i also love documenting my family as my younger siblings grow. i've been wanting to get a nice quality camcorder (preferably a cheap HD(720p)) for a long time now, and this is my chance to get something like that. If anyone has any ideas or owns a camcorder and would reccommend it please tell me.



I have the following req.



1. Preferably HD of some sort

2. DVD or HDD (reasonable sized hard drive)

3. SD card support for still photos(or memory stick duo)



thnx in advanceWhat kind of camcorder should i get?
Here's a list of camcorders that meet your criteria:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHO鈥?/a>What kind of camcorder should i get?
DVD camcorders are good and very convenient to transfer to the computer. I like my Sony Handycam. However the recording time is 30 minutes so if you are trying to record something that goes on for a long time you will need to take a stack of disks.



HD recorders come in various sizes and 30 or 40GB is good. you should be able to record a few hours without having to upload to the PC.



Don't worry too much about stills as the quality is poor. A proper camera will outperform a video camera by far.What kind of camcorder should i get?
Some of the options you list can get more expensive. They are eaiser to use but will cost more money.



Here is what I suggest and is what I did.



Checkout what is available at stores local to you.

After you see what is available consider what functions are most important.



For me I don't mind if it take a little time to get from the camera to the computer so I saved money by getting one that uses a mini digital tape rather than a CD or Hard Drive.



Then I did cost comparisons in my area and found what I wanted at Sam's Club and it ended up coming with a carring case and a tripod included in the package.



But again you have to decide what options you feel are important to you. If you want fast download times and higher quality then you may have to pay more. Also some come with editing software as well. Now most computers already have there own but it is something to consider.



Best of luck By the way mine is a JVC but I don't remember the model at the moment.
Don't get a DVD or hard drive camcorder. Get a MiniDV camcorder. They're much more user-friendly and flexible, and it's way easier to import video from MiniDV to a computer for digital editing.



SD card support is a plus, but the picture quality on camcorders that also take stills is not so hot. Still, it's nice to be able to take stills AND video with one camera.



I like Sony Handycams. They're reliable, inexpensive (at the entry level) and take good video. They're not great in low light, but they have infrared technology, which allows you to make videos in total darkness (as long as you're within 10 feet of your subject and don't mind everything looking green, like on "Survivor".)



Canon makes pretty good camcorders, too, as does Panasonic. Avoid JVC. They're more prone to need repairs (I speak from experience.)



If you're a Mac-guy, iMovie and iDVD are a snap to use (and really easy to learn.) I've put together some amazing, almost professional quality videos with iMovie. If you're a Windows guy, Windows MovieMaker is kind of hard to figure out, but it's an OK program for the most part.