I recently purchased a Canon HG20, but this thread is to all camcorder users.

I'm wondering about the recording quality that you use because I want to make sure I know what I'm doing before recording 200hrs of footage. The last thing I want is to look back and wish I did something differently.

On one hand I think there's value in recording at the highest possible quality. It's kind of pointless right now (for me anyway) to record on the highest quality because I don't have a Blu Ray burner and I'm limited to a 320GB HD (currently). On the other hand, in 5 years I may wish that I had cranked the quality up a bit so that I could burn to a higher quality output.

What's the balance between quality and practicality?

You bought a camcorder capable of recording full HD so why use it for anything less? Go ahead and record at 1920 x 1080 and save the files. You can always make a copy of the original file at a lower quality for viewing now and still have the originals to use in the future. Blu Ray burners are down to near $100 these days. You can buy a 1 terabyte HD for under a $100. Lack of storage capacity should not be a reason for not recording at the highest quality posswible. Get a bigger harddrive and replace the older, slower one you have now. A newer HD will run faster allowing better viewing and faster rendering of your videos.

Rule of thumb: ALWAYS record in best quality unless you're recording for a specific reason that needs lower quality.

You bought a 300HP car -- why drive with two plugs disconnected? ;)

Enjoy the camera!
Cheers,
Zevi

You bought a 300HP car -- why drive with two plugs disconnected? ;)

To save the environment, of course.... :eek:

To save the environment, of course.... :eek:

Nice... Maybe we should start an automotive forum on AVS? :)
But to be accurate -- doing so will hurt the environment -- inefficient engine operation and the wasting of unburnt fuel in the exhaust adds to polution :(