camcorder

[Bitman]

I love my FH-1, but it's HD (actually a step up - 1080p60 - which is why I got it.) It can do standard-def, but its automatics suck, so you need to plan ahead and pre-set the camera to get a good shot. It also has awesome low-light performance.

I can suggest two things though: You need to decide whether you want good stills or good movies. The FH-1 takes good stills, but they're *always* a little noisy, and my old 4 MP camera does much better. Still cams take very good movies, but never have quite the power and flexibility of a dedicated movie cam. So buy the camera that's the best at the one thing you want, and as good at the other as you can afford.

The other suggestion is to make sure it has threads for add-on lenses. You might never buy one, but it's nice to have that option if you need it. I got a "non-distorting" wide-angle for the FH-1 since the camera, when zoomed out, is still a little too zoomed in.

Oh, and:
http://www.dpreview.com/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/