[Anchoret]

Yeah, I need to come up with a HD/Flash camcorder to do some YouTube and music site videos for a band project.

I don't know much about the current crop of camcorders.

I think my top priority is picture/optical quality per $ with everything else pretty far down the line:

I'm going to be shooting in a small studio (a converted living room) with tripod and lots of auxiliary lighting, so I won't need a camera with a fine low-light or long optical zoom capabilities. Because the footage will probably be fairly heavily treated in editing, I may not need technically perfect color. I would like remote as I may be doing some shots of myself with no help.

I don't need to impress anyone with the "pro-ness" of the camera, so the brand is not an issue so I don't want to pay any extra bucks for the name cachet. It can have a metallic pink tourist-girl finish, I don't care.

What I do need is the best optical quality and picture stability can get for the bucks. You may also be aware of features for this kind of project that I have overlooked, and if so please suggest them to me.

With the above in mind, what meaningful specs/features should I be looking for when perusing camera technical descriptions? What camcorders suggest themselves here for +/-$500? That's the top limit and I shop HARD, so I may find a camera on long sale that meets my needs for very much less than that.

Any suggestions where to look for the longest deals? Fry's locally has some unexpectedly excellent prices on sales, but online sources are great, too.

Many thanks for any good advice on this!

[Larkshall]

I don't know if it is available in the USA (it is in UK) but the Toshiba Camileo H10 is a good HDMI DV Camcorder at a very reasonable price (£130 where most others are £250). I have had very good results (1280x720pixels) as has a friend who also bought one for his trip to West Coast, USA).

[Anchoret]

Originally Posted by Larkshall

I don't know if it is available in the USA (it is in UK).

Apparently it is not.