Camcorder Suggestions

[Streakerfreak]

My fiance wants to pick up a camcorder for a project she is working on and for our trip to Death Valley. It has been some time since I have used a camcorder so I am a little rusty on the latest stuff. We can't afford anything over $380 so I narrowed it down to Mini DV.

Here are the two I am looking at. Any suggestions would be great.

Canon ZR-950 MiniDV Camcorder
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=539207&is=REG&si=acc#goto_itemInfo

Panasonic PV-GS320 3 CCD Mini DV Camcorder
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=477103&is=REG&si=spec#goto_itemInfo

Are there any others I should be looking at or things I should be looking for?

 

[WhereTheHellIsJames?]

I think that I still have an underwater housing that fits that Canon... if you end up getting it, let me know, and you can have the housing if I still have it around and can find it.

I had the little miniDV Canon for a while. Although it was a little older model than the one you're considering, it was pretty much the same thing. Go try them out at whatever big-box electroncs store, and focus on testing out the image stabalization features of each. I've found that that is the weakest link for the cheapo camcorders.

Of course you could always make a cantilevered stabalizer for it too.

 

[Streakerfreak]

Well we picked up the Canon. Seems to be pretty good for the price. If you still do have that housing I will take you up on that offer when we meet up this spring/summer sometime.