I am on the hunt for a DV camcorder. I don't know much about these things. I am purchasing it from Newegg.com because I have financing already setup through them. I would like to not spend anymore than $600 but will if it is truly worth it. I don't care about taking still pictures with it because I already have a digital camera. These are the models I have thought about.

Canon
ZR90
Elura 65
Elura 70
Optura 30
Optura 40

Panasonic
PV-GS9
PV-GS12
PV-GS15

Can somebody give me some recommendations and a reason for the recommendation?

I can't speak for the Panasonic models since no body I know owns one. I have seen excellent video out of the Canon ZR and Optura series of camcorders. They are being used by some of my high school students and are holding up very well to the handling one would expect from a bunch of teen agers. I am particularly impresssed with the high shutter speed capabilities of the Optura series. It's nice to be able to change the shutter speed so you can stop the action better.

Get the best deal you can and take care of it.

MJS

I have heard that the Elura and ZR series to very poorly indoors or other areas with less than perfect lighting. This is coming from some reviews I have read. What I am thinking is that these are coming from professionals and they are able to see every flaw in them. The last camcorder I have used and seen video from was an inexpensive analog VHS-C camcorder. Am I assuming correctly that almost any DV camcorder would look much better than that?

Sorry, been busy for a few days. Technology has progressed so that the Mini-DV camcorders will almost always look better than any consumer grade VHS/SVHS or 8mm/HI8 tape. The only time you might have a difference is when you compare pro grade 3 chip cameras, with bigger chips than the consumer Mini-DV's have at present. The Min-DV are capable of recording more initial resolution, as measured by lines at center (240 max typical VHS consumber, 480 - 510 for the mini-DV, as well as keeping that resolution through the copy progress. When copying, VHS/SVHS and their 8mm cousins lose signal quality as the analog signal is read and retranslated to the following copies, the picture gets yucky. Because of the digital nature of Mini-DVeventhough tape based, the copies of the Mini-DV materials stays very consistant because you are only actually transferring a bunch of ones and zeros.

Just buy the cheapst camera you can get! make sure its new with warranty also. Why?
Either way your footage is gonna suck or be really good,, depending on how much you shake, how much you film, and your camera skills. Learn to use a pencil before you use a pen, and way before you use an electric pen! you coudl buy a $100.000 camera and what you film would suck if you dont know what your doing.
Dont let sales people talk you into the extra features... if your just filming the family YOU DONT NEED THEM, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT EXTRA FEATURES GET THE MINIMIAL IN THE END EACH CAMERA WILL ACHIEVE YOUR OBJECTIVE: AND THAT IS TO TAKE VIDEO!!!!!
Make sure its mini DV tapes though.

When you want to film pro stuff, get a DVX100, or a XL2 or a VX2100, or some kind of 3ccd camera