My wife wants a camcorder to record our bundle of joy as he grows. I thought I'd get her one for Christmas. What should I get? What features should I look for? Is it possible to get a nice one for under $500? I'm more interested in quality of the video than in bells-n-whistles.
Oh, and any good video editing software?
TIA!

btt

I just bought a Panasonic PVDV401 from www.buydig.com (Worldwide Direct) . Price was $524, but there's a $50 rebate from Panasonic. It's a Mini-DV format which gives the ultimate best pictures, has 20x optical zoom and 300x digital(useless past 70x, but so are all the others) an infrared filter and light(this sucker can film in pitch black) and more other features than I can possibly mention. It has a 3"LCD screen and a color viewfinder. I think it's the best you can get without going to one of the semi-pro models for $2000 !!!! I wouldn't wait too long though, they're coming out with new models which IMHO are cheapened and have less features. If you get one from Worldwide, call in and order. I beat the guy down to $75 for the 4 year extended warranty.

bowhuntr