Canon Optura 600 Mini DV Camcorder

I have to be honest with you, I am a bit of a quality freak when it comes to video...Searching and searching for the longest time to find something that would offer me the clearest crisp video that I could "stick in my pocket". I have always found the matchbook camcorder to be the most portable, I never really found the "horizontal cameras" easy to work with.
Not only was I looking for quality video and portability, but something I could just "whip out" and capture in a great automatic mode. Audio performance is absolutely stunning. Sure we all wish we had the time to go into Manual mode and deal with white balance and such, but lets face it, sometimes those best moment are right there and you have no time to mess with aperture settings.
Being the quality freak that I am, I did alot of researching. I am a big Sony and Panasonic fan, but the thing I didn't like about the sony's was that docking station...what a drag, I am more of a plug and play person when it comes to electronics. The great thing about the Canon is that everything is built in...easy to plug and play.
So after reading some limited reviews, I decided to take the plunge. Never have I been a big Canon fan at all. I thought the best thing to do would be to test it in a variety of lighing experineces and then review the quality of the video. Lets face it..it's all about the lighting when it comes to any photography/video and this little thing just blew me away. I was inside, outside, low light and high light and I have to tell you this thing killed me. Now I have to say, I reviewed most everything I captured on a 52 inch plasma tv with an s-video hookup (Canon offers the S-video cable) and I recorded myself , let me tell you I never noticed how many furrows and pores I had in my aging face! Man, this thing is CLEAR! I shot strictkly in automatic mode (just for the kicks) and was amazed.
If you are looking for something that you can stick in your pocket and carry with you anywhere with stunning quality this is it.