Camcorder for Interviews Shown on Web

[davidjt]

I have no idea about camcorders and have been trying to read around but still confused - this is my project.

I will record interviews with people at their homes or offices, one hour length probably. The person will be sitting down, not moving (much). So I'll use a tripod and external mic. I will have a Vista laptop on hand at the time.

Later I will edit the videos to cut out my questions and replace that with text on the screen introducing the topic. Also general editing. I only have experience with Windows Movie Maker and would prefer to just use that if possible.

The videos are only intended to be shown on the web, on a membership based website, so I'd like the quality to be as good as possible but keeping in mind download speeds - many of my users have slowish connections.

I don't need tapes or physical copies.

My only experience with videoing is using my nokia82 to film family scenes, etc.

My budget is probably sub $500.

So I'm looking at what would be the right sort of camera keeping in mind what I'm going to have to do with the result, what editing software I'm going to use, and preferably avoiding any issues like having to convert things, etc.

Any help appreciated.

[zoobie]

maybe you could use the cam in the link below
along with a cheap travel tripod,
some freeware listed here at VH,
and a coded membership based site with a payment gateway

cheap cam

[edDV]

Any used MiniDV cam would work fine. The DV format will be easier to edit.

If you seek a pro look, invest over half of your budget in a good lighting kit and audio. Viewers associate pro source first with audio quality and next with pro look lighting.