I am in the market to purchase a higher-end camcorder. I also has a hi-def television. My selection must be able to be used by an amateur fairly easily and able to withstand the rigors of being used in a moving(speeding, carving, tracking) vehicle.

I have found the following to be different, but in the same neigborhood as far as features and price:

Canon XL1s
Panasonic AG-DVX100A
Sony DCR VX2000
JVC GR-HD1

Items of importance to me- high resolution, audio, 24 frame/sec recording(but not mandatory), 16x9 filming


Does anyone have any experience with any of the models above? Any other recommendations? I understand that some come with their own editing software and some do not. My computer will probably need to be replaced(only 1.8 Pent 4- 256RAM) to meet the software requirements.

I hope to be able to capture some pretty good video this year... but no more jumping the car. I have new shocks/springs and I'm not ready to blow them out yet.

Thanks in advance,
Skip

 

FWIW, I have an XL1 and will never step down from a camera with interchangable lenses. Some of your other choices offer greater resolution or better low light capabilities, but I will not give up my wide angle lens Being able to choose the glass really opens up the possibilities. The big downsides are size and cost.

 

Moving to Off Topic...

 

I'm looking too, the xl1s is a great camera and currently canon is offering $500 back. The ability to change the lens is a huge plus, but the glass is expensive!

You say you want to shoot in PAL format (25fps), not sure if it'll flip between NTSC and PAL. I'm sure you know that it can shoot 16:9. Overall, a solid camera and many say that the XL1S is actually the rumored XL2 (the upgraded XL1).

Street prices are about $3K, not bad for all that camera.

PS. Please post what you decide to do and why!!!! Thanks