Folks: After literally spending two months trying to figure out what camera to buy, I turn to you, dear experts.
Before I got here, I spent a good amount of time on Amazon, CNET, camcorder review sites, Mac forums, gadget blogs and, of course, searching through similar questions on this board. My conclusion is that this is such an immature (or more charitably: rapidly evolving) market, that sweet spots are hard to find and are elusive once you do. I'm happy to spend roughly $1,500. Here's what I would like in a camera: --3CCD quality --Mic jack and, ideally, a headphone jack --Compactness, yet should not look or feel like a toy --Easy ability to edit on a Mac I'll be using it primarily for Web video, but wouldn't mind having it look good on my HD screen, too. I almost pulled the trigger on the Panasonic GS500, but didn't when I read about it's lack of headphone jack. I also couldn't find the camera being sold by any "name" retailer. It's also being sold for a price higher than suggested retail via Amazon third parties. The new HD cameras look pretty nice, but I read nightmare stories about incompatible editing standards. Then, of course, I see plenty of compelling video created by many of you on still cameras and phones. What's a boy to do?!
