Camcorder advice for complete novice needed

[owenjt]

I'm completely new to all this, so am after some advice on which camcorder to purchase.

It's for my work, and i basically want a easy-to-use, durable, compact and lightweight camera for creating videos for the web. Cost isn't really an issue although am not planning on breaking the bank.

It also needs to be easy for me to take the footage from the camera onto my pc to edit (will be using Adobe Premier).

Any advice appreciated as i've no idea what i'm looking for!

[owenjt]

Anyone? Are they any sites out there that could help me maybe?

[bumfrog]

too be honest, most modern video cameras will do the job you wish. It's more down to how much you wish to spend. A budget would help in order to narrow things down. For example you can now get a canon High def camera for a shade under 700 notes.

Just out of interest, have you used premier before? Just I find it a little odd that you would use a partiularly non novice video editing software and then want a "novice" camera. Not having a go by the way, just find it a bit wierd.

[owenjt]

Budget-wise i guess £400-500 for the sort of camera i'm looking for, i'm only planning to take relatively short films which are for a website.

And yes i have used premier before when i've produced 3d animations, so am familiar with it. I just don't have much experience with video cameras.

[bumfrog]

something like this maybe just what you are after...

sony hard drive camcorder (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://clkuk.tradedoubler.com/click?p(17211)a(60823)g(106115)url(http://www.jessops.com/Store/s48312/0/Camcorders/Sony/DCR-SR52-Hard-Drive-Camcorder/details.aspx?&IsSearch=y&pageindex=1&CatId=171&comp=y))

[owenjt]

Cheers. Done some research over the past couple of days and liking the look of the Sony HDR-HC7. Got some good reviews and i can buy an 8gb memory card which will enable me to easily transfer the video onto my pc.