Sony Handycam HDR-HC1 Hard Drive Camcorder

I just bought one yesterday and I am impressed. But, I am not an expert on video. The image quality is good. I am extremely impressed by the SUPER EASY operating system, which I learned through experimenting for a few minutes. I put in a tape and recorded some things in my apartment. It was easy to figure out how to switch between DV and HDV, but, I discovered that my 15 month old Powerbook G4 with OSX already had the IMovie HD version on it, so I left it on HD. It downloaded to the Powerbook so easily, that my 75 year old father could have done it. In low light the camera gets noisey, but I like that look. Also, the camera has a great "night mode" feature that seems to project an infra-red light, which is magnified by the camera. It looks like the green, night video from Iraq (like the military infra-red binochulars). I like that effect too. Other reviewers have mentioned that this camera is expensive, well, 5-6 months have gone by since it's release and I am happy to tell you that I bought this camera for $799 on close-out, from a major, local, retailer. The fact that it has a universal external mic and headphone jacks is great. Try to find that in the new Sony HD3 (Which I looked at and is a really nice camera). Others are correct, there is no universal light hot shoe, but there is a hot shoe for Sony's light which costs 59.99 and is available everywhere. I'm taking a documentary filmaking course at school and this camera will be perfect. I'm sure that some negative aspects will show through at some point, but for me, this is a nice camera.