Jeff Frizzell: You did not tell us WHY you want a camcorder or what you expect to capture to video. Hard disc drive camcorders fall off my short list because of their known limitations with high vibration and high altitude environments. "High vibration" (or shock) sources can be loud crowds, loud engines, or even loud music - amplified or not. MiniDV tape and Flash memory camcorders do not have these issues. At least with the 3 HDD cams you listed, you could switch to flash memory - if you have space on the memory card or brought extra memory cards.The XR200 has no mic jack. External mics are a very limited selection to those from Sony which can work with the Active Interface Shoe. No mic jack falls off my list.The XR500 has a 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo mic jack... so that's OK.Both the XR200 and XR500 have extremely limited manual audio control - "Normal" or "Low" (for loud audio environments to prevent the audio from being muddy and clip too much). This is too limiting. No man! ual control falls off my list.The XR200 and XR500 have a "SmoothSlow Record feature for capturing short (3 second) high speed video and at normal 30fps playback that results in 12 seconds of payback. They also have a built-in infrared emitter for "zero light" NightShot mode. These are novelty features - unless you plan to do "Ghost Hunters" or "Blair Witch Project" type videos.The Canon HG21 has a 1/8" audio in jack and manual audio control... That alone makes it a superior camcorder to the other two.All three used AVCHD compression. Too bad. Too much compression. All three have no cost effective method to archive video.All three are consumer-grade with small lenses and small imaging chips - just setting the expectation for poor low-light behavior - that's all. This is not limited to these camcorders, but all with similarly sized lenses and imaging chips in consumer camcorders.If it was my money, I would not waste it on a hard disc drive camcorder. For best video quality, D! V/HDV is still king... In the consumer space, this means the C! anon HV30/HV40 or Sony HDR-HC9. If your computer can't handle a firewire port and you are convinced by the marketing hype that non-tape is the way to go, then at least consider flash memory instead. The Canon HF series and Sony HDR-CX12 make that short list.Be advised that the software in the box with any of these camcorders will not provide a robust editing environment. For AVCHD or HDV format, Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere float to the top if you are in the Windows/Vista environment (MovieMaker can't handle either); for Macs, an Intel-Mac running iMovieHD '08 or newer or the current versions of FinalCut Express or Pro are required for AVCHD; HDV has been useful for several years (iMovieHD 05; FinalCut 5.1).Your computer will need LOTS of RAM, REALLY fast CPU and LOTS of hard drive space (and NOT the hard drive that has the start-up system) for editing....Show more
Germaine Tieken: you will choose a Firewire cable (huge-unfold as i.link on your camcorder). you will p! robable choose a 6-pin to 4-pin Firewire cable, yet you are able to desire to envision your digicam and pc t be constructive One end of your cable will probable could desire to be the small 4-pin connector to plug into the Firewire port on the Digital8 digicam. The Firewire port is marked with the lowercase letter i . you will could desire to discover the Firewire port on your pc. that's regularly on the backs of computers and on the realm or lower back of laptops. that's regularly a unmarried super 6-pin port next to the USB ports. the different end of your Firewire cable will could desire to plus into this port. as quickly as you have the camcorder related to the pc by way of Firewire, you ought to use domicile windows action picture Maker in domicile windows or iMovie in iLife on a Mac to seize the video from the camcorder and edit it on your pc. * in case you haven't any longer have been given a minimum of 320gb of cabinet area on your pc's challengingpersistent, you wi! ll choose an exterior challengingpersistent to hold the digital video i! n the time of modifying and to save the appropriate movies. that's cautioned to get an exterior challengingpersistent with a minimum of 500gb that could plug into your USB port through fact that your digicam would be interior the Firewire port. you are able to now get undemanding 500gb USB fashions for $one hundred. as quickly as the video has been edited and saved in an exceedingly final action picture, you are able to delete the captured video (from the tapes) to make room for the subsequent project....Show more
King Bringle: I only want a Camcorder, so, don't say "Don't get a Camcorder"