I want your thoughts on this. Lately I have been wanting to buy a camcorder that has its own hard drive maybe, I don't know because camcorder with hard dives in them to store the video without the need of the memory card, price goes up and I am thinking its worth it, that's the only think I know its worth the extra bucks for sure. When I look at them I was thinking night vision would be cool to have but then the price goes up and others just have a red light thats not as good at night vision but will work somewhat and I'm not sure if its worth it and whats best for my money. I was looking at Bestbuy and Futureshop online and such.

Then I was looking at the PowerShot ones and have no idea if they are any good.

Please help me, I'm totally lost.

Haha I actually work at a Best Buy in the camera/camcorder section.

Here are some things to consider.  I would definitely stick with either a flash memory or hard drive camcorder.  The tapes and dvds are nice, but they're difficult to transfer the video to the computer and the way they save footage will cost you more in the long run. 

Hard drive camcorders are nice.  They store more memory than the other types, such as having a 60 gb hdd versus a 4 or 8 gb flash. If you want to compare prices, I'll use a Sony that I sell almost everyday.  There is a 60gb hdd camcorder that runs $399.99 at normal price.  Theres a flash version of it, same stats and everything, that only differs in that it only holds 8 gigs that goes for $299.99.  Thats a $100 difference. With $100, the most that you can buy as far as flash memory goes is a 16gb card, maybe a 32gb online if youre luck. If you were to use that extra card in the flash camcorder, you're still shy of the 60gb hdd. So as far as technology and the prices of memory today, I think the hdd would be the best choice because you get the most memory for your money.

However, just like a hdd in a computer, a hdd in a camcorder does have to spin to work.  Theres a possibility that the hdd will stop spinning and then your only option is using the memory card slot.  This doesn't usually happen within the first five years of purchasing the camcorder but it could happen. In a flash camcorder, its just a card, no moving parts. Just some things to think about.

As far as brand, I usually recommend the sony and cannon. Besides those, jvc, panasonic, and samsung are alright.

My dad knows I want to buy why and he said why not by a SLR camera that also does videos that way you get both good pictures and pretty good videos and buy a good memory card.

Go for the one on the right. The left is the side of evil.

My day told me me to by SLR Camera and he made a good point, why not buy a camera that takes good pictures and videos.

Tell me if this looks good

Tell me if this looks good

I had a crisis.

The T1I is a really nice camera. Like I sent you in the mail though, as far as HD video goes, it will only record the 720p resolution at a certain frames per second so its nice, but not that nice. If your main priority is video, stick with a camcorder. If its pictures, then I'd go with a DSLR that will do the video too.