There are three thing that are VERY important when getting a camera: Three CCD�s - also called �chips� Manual controls for the iris, shutter, focus and white balance. A microphone input. In the around $1,000 range there are currently only 3: The JVC GR-X5 is a nice starter camera with manual controls and a mic input. The Panasonic PV-GS300 or PV-GS500 is a terrific camera 3CCD camera. It has manual settings and a mic input. Sony DCR-HC1000 is very similar to the Panasonic cameras. If you�re more comfortable with Sony, this is the camera for you. Close is the Canon HV20. It records in HDV (1080i) and 24p (60i), has a mic input and manual controls of white balance and focus but it uses one 1/2.7� CMOS sensor rather than 3 CCD�s. For me the jury is still out on the CMOS. And it�s so small the handling is difficult. Several cameras are now moving from tape to hard drive. Called HDD (hard disc drive) there are a few in this price range that should be considered. The major downside is the MPEG-2 compression. Sony DCR-SR300 has a 40GB non-removable hard drive. It holds 9.5 hours in HQ mode. As is all too common with Sony there is no mic or headphone jack so this camera is not acceptable for movie making - it�s stuck in the �vacation� level. The next price range is in the $1,500 to $2,000 range. Time to get serious. A camera in this range should have is XLR mic inputs and, of course, manual controls. The bigger the CCD�s the better. I like the new JVC GZ-HD7. A really nice Fujinon lens makes a huge difference and full manual controls is important. Three 1/5� 16:9 progressive scan CCD�s are pretty impressive for a camera in this price range. It records directly to a built in 60GB hard drive. The Panasonic AG-DVC30 is a nice camera. Controls are more consumer oriented. Movie-Like mode inferior to true progressive imaging; no built-in XLR ports but it has the essentials. The Canon Gl2 is a little more expensive. Still no XLR inputs and the "frame mode" is inferior, but this is a really nice camera for the price.