$500-$1000 MiniDV Camcorder...any suggestions?

[S13SilviaK]

A buddy of mine is looking for a quality minidv cam, he has a 6 year old son who plays soccer, does karate and will be starting baseball this next season so most of the video will be high action types of shots.

He doesn't need good still shots but firewire is of course a must, I'd like to stay away from sony since they still have constant reliability problems, and the cam has to be pretty durable since it is going to be carried around at least twice a week.

Thanks I hope you guys have some suggestions.

 

[taft]

"I'd like to stay away from sony since they still have constant reliability problems"

um sony owns the Camcorder scene....

The Canon ZR50 MC can easily be found for around $500. Its an awesome Mini Dv cam.

 

[S13SilviaK]

Well according to you sony is dominant but from the reviews I've read Sony cams have been problematic and overpriced, like most of their current products. I'd like to know what cams are out there, currently the top of the list seems to be the Panasonic DV852 I found it for about $1000 even.

 

[oldfart]

I agree about Sony. Not my favorite brand. I have a Canon ZR40. Very nice camcorder. The ZR40/45/50 are all good bets.

 

[DaMutha]

I highly recommend the Panasonic PV-DV852. I did a ton of research before choosing it, and it lives up to the hype. I was very close to buying a Sony DCR27, but kept reading about how it's not very good in low light. The 852 is supposed to be one of the best 1 CCD cameras in low light. A lot of my filming will be indoors, and that was very important to me. So far, I love it. I'm just waiting for my new computer to arrive so I can start doing some editing!