Need suggestions for buying a camcorder?

[p_s_92]

The purpose of our camcorder is for recording a conference done yearly which would last around 22 hours in three days. 3 speakers would speak for 2hours continously for a total of 6 hours continous recording, then there might be a break of half an hour which can allow us to move the recording from the media(miniDV tapes, SD card, or a hard disk if we are using HDD camcorders or any other media) to a laptop running Windows

There might be other training sessions totaling around 15hours at other times which our office also might want to be recorded. I am just trying to estimate how much would be the cost of camcorder, media(mini DV tapes/SD card/hard disk), tripod, mic, lighting and how easy it would be transfer them to a computer(running Windows XP) for editing. The recording does not have to very high end, but reasonably good so that the videos can be edited later on.

1. Should I look into camcorders which miniDV tapes or media(other than flash or hard disk) or is a camcorder using Flash/hard disk is fine? For flash camcorders I hear the file format they write to can be an issue? For miniDV camcorders support is waning so a Flash/HDD camcorder would be advisable?

2. What quality setting would you recommend for a conference/speaker presentation for a flash based camcorder?

3. I hear a 16GB SD card at highest setting 720p can record only 20mins? Did I hear correctly?

4. About speed of card which would be a good choice? How much does that matter?

5. For class of card, should it be class 6 or better? How much would that matter?

6. For SD card, is a particular brand more reputed which we should get or Kingston/Transcend would be fine?

7. Would the extra cost of HDD camcorders balance the price of buying two 16GB SD cards(around 70) which will need to be swapped?

8. Is an external microphone necessary for recording like we are doing? Or, can it be skipped? If needed, what are good brands with an affordable price?

9. How much would a tripod(a cheap one) cost and what is a good brand for them which would give acceptable results? 10. Is Boken a ok company for tripod at about 50? Are there other companies which i should look into?

10. Would we need lights also in case the room is a bit dark or can we skip it? If lights are needed, what would be a cheap brand which gives us acceptable results and how much would it cost? Or, is it something which can be conjured by doing a web search for Do it yourself 3 point lighting? I have never done it before but is it easy enough to do that for a layman?

9. How much would the extras(tripod, external mic, lighting) approximately cost for our recording need? Are there companies which sell all three of them togehter for a low price?

10. Should I prefer Sony, Canon, Panasonic for camcorder or is there another brand I should look into for the Camcorders?

11. How would the models at http://www.amazon.com/Veho-VCC003MUVI-Micro-DV-Camcorder/dp/B0029631VI/ref=sr_1_17?tag...634655&sr=1-17 and http://www.walgreens.com/store/catalog/Digital-Cameras/5.0-Megapixel-587-V-High-Defini...g=shoplocalbuy for our purpose?
Any suggestions/advice would be welcome.

[edDV]

I've done similar with multiple cameras. Tried and true formats are DV for standard def or HDV for high def. Both record to tape but also stream live over IEEE-1394 for external recording. AVCHD camcorders lack a live digital stream (other than uncompressed HDMI which is a different story).

The DV or HDV 25 Mb/s stream can be directly captured to a computer or to a Firestore disc recorder type device. I dual record to tape and an external device. This gives backup. I can quick change tapes live while still recording on the external device. A 120GB Firestore can record 9 continuous hours.
http://www.videonics.com/solutions/focusdteinfo/
http://www.videonics.com/solutions/video_production.asp

Unlike highly compressed AVCHD, DV/HDV can be editied on less demanding equipment. HDV may need a digital intermediate codec (e.g. Cineform Neoscene) for faster editing response.

For camcorder models it depends on your price/performance requirements.

Minimum MiniDV, see Canon Z series

Minimum HDV, see Canon HV20/HV30/HV40

For audio, record from the house audio system. I use a Beachtek and take a balanced 600 ohm XLR feed off the house audio mixer.
http://www.beachtek.com/dxa2t.html

Lighting equipment and the Firestore can be rented.

[p_s_92]

Thanks for the suggestions and advice.