Really Inexpensive Camcorders

Try the Canon ZR800?
There are a daunting variety of options in camcorders. Tape, flash memory, optical disk, or internal drive? Internal microphone or external? Optical zoom?

Surprisingly, we've found you can get 90% of the functionality of a $1000 camera from the Canon ZR 800. This unit is available, refurbished, from Amazon.com, for under $150, and has high-quality optics, an external mic jack, and records on high-quality miniDV tapes. It shoots 12:9 widescreen. You can transfer your files across a standard "firewire" cable. If you keep the camcorder steady on a tripod and get good lighting and sound you will be very pleased with the result.

Especially in a 320X280 YouTube vid.

Actually, we make a big point of telling people that care and effort in getting good sound and lighting will make a far greater contribution to the perceived quality of the video product than the camcorder. How do we know this? Do you ever watch TV in your kitchen while cooking,or do other things while "watching" the news? You're monitoring the content with your ears and only cast your eyes at the screen when something important happens. Fuzzy sound says a lot, and so does some tired music in the background, and wobbly camera stability.

Full Disclosure: VidTeams does not hold any stock in either Canon or Amazon.

Now go out there and shoot some video!