My brother asked me the other day what camera he should get for around a $1,000. I was stumped because every camera I have researched since I started was a prosumer running around $2500 and up. He will be making indie films also with this camera however he is on a tighter budget. Their film company in two days has sold their film logo t-shirts and made almost a grand. I told them they should save some more and go prosumer but I can tell they aren't going to listen. ANy suggestions on cameras around 1k...? Thanks, Jack

They're financing the production of their film off t-shirts? Is there a link to the site so we can see these shirts? $1k is pretty good return.

How about this (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=1871&A=details&Q=&sku=448812&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation)?

The Canon HV10 HDV Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom, 1080i, 16:9. It's around $950. Not bad for a consumer camera.

The problem I see with the Canon HV10 is no mic input. This Panasonic (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=1871&A=details&Q=&sku=415307&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation) has fewer lines of resolution but the mic input allows for an external mic. In my opinion, that's one very important feature.