[Bob in St. Louis]

Hello all.

The wife and I will be taking a vacation in a couple weeks and are looking to purchase a new camcorder. The JVC widescreen HDD unit we have now takes nice video when shooting outside, but inside videos are dark and orange(ish). If there isn't a spotlight on somebody's face, then it's almost unwatchable due to darkness. And forget the background, if it's not within 8' of the camera, then it's REALLY dark. Most of the video we've shot of the kids inside the house looks like they're sitting in front of a black background and their faces have a dark orange tint. 

So....The three requirements we've got are:
- Less than $1000 (preferably closer to $750)
- HDD based storage
- High def

Any recommendations?
Thanks in advance!
Bob

EDIT: (I just thought of a few more things)

- I don't care what the digital zoom specs are, as digital zoom looks horrible. I put more emphasis on camcorders with a higher optical zoom spec.
- Having the ability to take snapshots is not a great priority, but would be convenient. That being said, units with a higher MP rating would be nice. The range I've seen has been between 2.1MP and 12.1MP. taking snapshots with a camcorder that has a 2.1MP rating would be.....well....pointless. 

[JohnR]

I don't know anything about camcorders, but this might help ...

http://reviews.cnet.com/camcorder-buying-guide/

According to them, the Canon HF200 is the best buy at your price point

On resolution - HDTV is about 2 MP, isn't it? I think I'd stick with a DSLR (or film) for photos

[Ferdi]

Hi Bob,

Not sure about going HD. I have no experience with that but when making my buying decision, I felt HD wasn't worth it.

I have a Sony DCR-HC96 which is a DV camera. Mine does well in lower light compared to a similar Panasonic.

Finally, I specifically chose to use tapes rather than HD as the amount of data stored is much bigger than on harddisk (less compression) but I have not made side by side comparisons.

Good luck, Ferdi

[richidoo]

Lots of reviews and comparisons here:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

I'm with Ferdi on preferring SD over HD for camcorder. I see advantages to memory card over hard disk.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Excellent. Thanks for the words and the links. I'll check those out.

Thank you guys! 
Bob