Hi all,

I am looking for a High Def camcorder but don't know what media type would be right for me. I want ease of use, but overall image quality is the most important. I plan on archiving my recordings on to hard drives and ultimately BD discs. It seems there are 3 different media types, a built-in HDD, external SD-HC media, and tapes.

I am thinking using tapes would provide the best quality but am concerned with how long it could take to transfer to my computer and compress the files if needed. What, if any advantage does SD media have over internal HDD's. Also I would like to be able to use an external MIC and tripod. Do most units high def cams come with this ability? My price range is $600-800.
I apprechiate all replies, thanks!

I was in the same boat back in March of this year. I had an 8mm tape cam and wanted to move up to HD. I looked and researched all (tape, dvd, and HD) and ended up with the SR12. A very good choice for me. Picture is absolutely phenomenal and I have plenty of recording space on the HD for any event I can think of. It also can use MS which is also very handy. I simply copy a couple of files from the HD to MS and play it on my PS3. Did I say the picture is amazing!!!!
I occasionally move the files off the cam onto my PC harddrive. At this time, I don’t do any editing. I simply copy any files I want to review onto an external harddrive, USB flash drive, MS, CF card, SD card, etc…. and play it on my PS3 on my plasma. Knowing what I know now, I would never go back to tape.
You mentioned your budget. I believe you can find the SR11 close to your price range if you shop. The two cams are identical except for the size of the harddrive. Even the SR11 will give you 7 hours of HD footage.
Additionally, these two cams have 10mp stills. They certainly won’t rival a DSLR, but they do produce some very good stills.