Speaking of which its little brother looks kind of good value.

First of all. What are you going to be using the camcorder for?
Secondly. What is your budget?

John

Knowing your budget is absolutely mandatory.

JJK

IMO in the #3000=$4,000 range:

wedding/event videography: Sony PD170

shorts/ controled environment shooting: Pana DVX100a

In the $2000-$3,000 range:

Either the VX2100 or the soon to be defunct DVC80.

After about the 4th of July, when it is released for sale, have a look at the Panasonic 3-chip PV-GS400 here:

http://www.computers4sure.com/product.asp?productid=1903964

Supposedly the price, including delivery will be about $1203.95.

No budget here. I just don't want a professional looking, big camera that is too heavy or cumbersome to carry about. I shoot a lot of family pictures and all four of my kids play sports..............basketball mainly, but football as well. I need a good zoom and a camera that can shoot well in gym lighting. We also travel a lot. I am really into good picture quality. Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

I would hit ebay. I've had good luck there. Of course you still need to pick the model you want. I buy 2-3 year old models for a good price.

I like the Sony TRV20 - pretty good pic, can be hacked with some professionial features such as zebra. Takes 1 meg stills, extended battery is good for over 500 minutes (great on vacations). 10:1 optical zoom - up to 120 digital. Good low light shots. New it was over 1500, if you get lucky you can get if for about 250-400.

Now if you really want something try and find an old canon Elura. Its a 3ccd cam that produces some pretty good stuff. Real hard to find this one though.

I still love the GL2 for everything.

My Mini-DV camcorder was stolen this week (Sony TRV38), and now I need to replace it. Any ideas out there on what to replace it with? I am seriously considering the Canon Xi because of various reviews. Thought I'd ask fellow Vegas users which they prefer. I don't want anything bigger.
======================
I did a little research. For what you are doing, the Canon Xi sounds like a good choice. It has a single 1/3 CCD, renders colors well, has a very good image stabilization and a non-jerky zoom. For sports video shooting in gymnasiums, this sounds like a reasonably priced camera that will do the trick.
The negatives of the camera (bottom loading, low light graininess)don't seem like a problem for your situation.
I would stay away from JVC cameras because of their below average repair records.
In terms of the Sony cameras, many of them (including my VX2000) see certain violet colored sports uniforms as blue. No amount of white balancing can correct it either and it is difficult to correct in post as well without washing out the colors in the gymnasium.
The Canon is available for $1188.94 less a $200 rebate from Amazon.com with free shipping and a 30 day return policy that NONE of the camera/video stores or online camera/video vendors have. NONE of them offer that. Vanns.com used to, but they went the way of all the rest of them.

John

$200 rebate is available elsewhere as well. Expires June 30, 2004.

I think you're into conflicting requirements. Good picture quality starts with good optics which means a big lens, same goes for good zooms. The ones on low end consummer camera are just sad. Not until you use a pro camera with a proper zoom controller do you realise what you're missing out on. Same goes for the quality of the lens. IMHO ANYTHING that comes with Bluetooth just steer away from, shows where the designer saw his priorities!
The hassle of carry around a slightly larger camera will be long forgotten but the images of your family will be with you forever.
And again no one mentioned audio quality!

sony vx 2100 or panasonic ag-80 I got both but i like the panasonic better bigger monitor, proffesional sound, better wide angle lens and sharper and for nighttime shootting both perfom the same i guess 1 lux or 3 lux is not a big change based on my own test the only thing i dont like about the panasonic is normal click click click when the camera is off I love both cameras but the 80 is a realy workhorse.

The hassle of carry around a slightly larger camera will be long forgotten but the images of your family will be with you forever.
And again no one mentioned audio quality!
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Have you ever heard the audio quality in gymnasiums?
If he is handholding the camera, the Canon Optura Xi is a nice size. Check the reviews. It doesn't seem like a bad camera for his application. Many seem happy with it:
http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Reviews/canon_mvx3i.html

http://www.dvspot.com/reviews/canon/optura_xi-review/index.shtml

http://www.epinions.com/pr-Canon_Optura_Xi_Mini_DV_Camcorder

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/canon-optura-xi-camcorder-review.htm

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000BUTU9/103-4273606-4030239?v=glance&vi=customer-reviews&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.dealtime.com/xPR-Canon_Optura_Xi

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1398020,00.asp?rsDis=Canon_Optura_Xi-Page001-113383

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/archive/index.php/f-12.html




$200 Rebate expires June 30, 2004

John

plus my $.02 cents worth , sound quality, a camera with the abilty to turn OFF the AGC. and either with xlr jacks or an adapter.