Camcorder advice : Tapeless, Mick jack, Low light, Hot shoe.

[adumi]

I`d like to get some camcorder advise.
Things I need:
1. Tapeless – I want to avoid encoding of any kind. I need an immediate access to the video. This is so important for me. I`d like to avoid any strange file type camcorders which necessitate, again – re-encoding to another format.
2. Mick jack – a must.
3. Low light performance – much more important to me than resolution or overall video quality. My main object is a very dark object . My environment is Indoors.
4. Hot shoe – I need an external light. I could skip that one and fix another source of light.

Things I can do without:
1. Resolution and overall video quality. The outcome is eventually uploaded to the web (FLV)
2. Battery hours, Hard Disk/Flash card size have no real value to me – I`m shooting very short sequences – daily.
3. Ergonomics, Menu issues, IS, weight and size are negligible – It`s a tripod/static set up and a very relaxed shoot.
I appreciate your help, thank you.

[edDV]

I`d like to get some camcorder advise.
Things I need:
1. Tapeless – I want to avoid encoding of any kind. I need an immediate access to the video. This is so important for me. I`d like to avoid any strange file type camcorders which necessitate, again – re-encoding to another format

Things I can do without:
1. Resolution and overall video quality. The outcome is eventually uploaded to the web (FLV)

So are you saying you want to cap directly to FLV?

[gadgetguy]

I can't say I understand what you're doing, but from the description of your needs I would recommend a still Digital camera with video capabilities. I don't know of any that record to FLV directly, but there are many that record to web friendly formats. I have a Kodak Easyshare Z710 that records to Mpeg4 in a MOV container and performs fairly well in low light conditions. Then again, my Kodak doesn't have a mic jack, only a built in mic.

[edDV]

I'm thinking a generic camcorder feeding a PC with on-the-fly encoding.

The camcorder will vary by low light demand. Canon Z to used broadcast model.

[adumi]

I should apologize first, and I do: My description turned out to be very misleading.
By saying I wanted to avoid encoding I meant pre-editing encoding. It`s just that I`ve heard that some of the HDD camcorders produce esoteric file formats - not always available in major editing software like Vegas or Premiere - forcing the user to convert the files before he can edit them - and it is this conversion that I`d like to avoid. Of course that eventually - after editing - I`ll be encoding to FLV, But a single conversion is better than two.
Even though High def would be a crazy overkill for the kind of output I eventually need - I`d probably profit (for other purposes) by having a quality-original - so I rather had in mind one of the new HDD/flash card HD/SD Sony/JVC/Canon/Panasonic models of 600-1600$.
But as I need a model that has low light capabilities and External Audio I turn to you for assistance.
Again Sorry for the mess - hopefully - you can point out a HDD cam that has the above said features and Qualities.

[Soopafresh]

How good of an image are you expecting in a low light situation?


Check out these low light videos and decide for yourself

http://www.vimeo.com/videos/search:Low+Light/sort:newest/format:thumbnail

Any of the newer Canons - HV30, HG20, etc will have 1/8" inputs for external microphone.