I think I have my mind set on the Canon HG20. The price is just too good right now. The thing I am trying to figure out now is which accessories do you veterans consider must-haves that a noob like me might not think of?

I am planning on an extra battery (BP-827), external battery charger (CG-800), a pair of 16GB SDHC cards (Patriot Class 6 - PSF16GSDHC6), and a camera case (Lowepro Nova 180 AW). But these are obvious choices. What am I missing? I need to keep the total purchase under $1,500 and with the aforementioned items I am at approximately $995.00 shipped to my house.

Thanks in advance! :D

microphone
maybe a wide angle lens
maybe some filter lenses

computer to edit

UV Filter leave on at ALL times...
Software and the Memory to Edit (4GB Ram minimum)
Shotgun Mic

everything else is cosmetic...

Computer and editing software.

UV filter to protect the lens.

Cheap ($20) WalMart camera bag.

Extra battery (after a few weeks perhaps).

Once you are able to shoot decent video and get it to your computer where you can watch and edit it as needed, you will be able to decide where you want to put your money.


You might decide you need a very good tripod....



Rich

Put a wide angle lens on top of your list. You will be surprised how much the camera "misses" and "catches" with and without the wide angle lens. Word of caution, do not try to save money on teh lens, get the original manufacturer's lens. I have had my miniDV camcorder for 4 years and I have never made a home movie without the wide angle lens.

Put a wide angle lens on top of your list. You will be surprised how much the camera "misses" and "catches" with and without the wide angle lens. Word of caution, do not try to save money on teh lens, get the original manufacturer's lens. I have had my miniDV camcorder for 4 years and I have never made a home movie without the wide angle lens.

I see where your coming from...but this is purely preference...the wide angle lens does not allow you to zoom in normally and it doesnt give accurate edge definition...

i could give you 5 reasons why to use it and 5 reasons why it makes the shot worse...

i wouldnt consider it a "MUST HAVE" but it is something I would toy with...i use mine less than 25% of the time....I wouldnt recommend using it all the time..mine
but if you like that look then go for it!!

A PS3 if you don't have one.

It will give you the best playback options for your AVCHD video files.

UV Filter leave on at ALL times...
Software and the Memory to Edit (4GB Ram minimum)
Shotgun Mic

everything else is cosmetic...

People keep saying you need lots of RAM, and while it would be nice to have more than 2GB, how can software operating on a computer with a 32-bit operating system utilize more than 2GB of RAM? Doesn't a 32-bit operating system limit how much RAM a computer can "see" and how much RAM software can utilize? I've heard of the "3GB switch" thing but am not really interested in messing with that.

Sorry if I am missing something totally obvious on the RAM topic.

i think 32-bit can see 3gigs.
you need 64-bit to see 4 gigs

upgrade to xp64 or vista64. You'd probably want to buy quad-core cpu as well. i'm using a dual-core, it works, but converting to dvd 1 hour of 1920x1080 footage takes me about 6-7 hours. 12-13 hours if i do 2-pass.

people keep saying you need lots of ram, and while it would be nice to have more than 2gb, how can software operating on a computer with a 32-bit operating system utilize more than 2gb of ram? Doesn't a 32-bit operating system limit how much ram a computer can "see" and how much ram software can utilize? I've heard of the "3gb switch" thing but am not really interested in messing with that.

Sorry if i am missing something totally obvious on the ram topic.

not with a mac! :d:d:d:d