Panasonic SDR-H18

Pros: Great focus finding in zoom, easy to navigate, warmer colors

Cons: A little trouble to set up the first time on the computer, images not as sharp as other cameras

Summary: I bought one of these at the same time as a Sony DCR-SR42 camera, for almost exactly the same price. This was superior to that camera in every way, except that the image is a little less sharp. You can still read a promo poster across a store, and at short distances looking at the screen is like looking through glass. But at about 8 ft away there starts to be a little softness around the edges. Color is good, a little over warm/dark rather than over pale or bleached (unfortunately I find most cameras fall into one of these two categories). A big con is you can't just drag videos off the folder and watch in Windows Media Player or VLC player, you have to use the supplied software.

This camera is really good about staying in focus while zooming or panning, even when zooming and panning quickly. It charges quickly, the menu is easy to navigate, and the joystick control easy to use. This camera is not hard to fully operate one handedly (if you should ever need that?) and color is good, start up time fast. Image stabilizer is better on this than it was on the Sony.

One funny thing is that it automatically adjusts color warmth; its very good at getting it right, but this takes a second.

Overall I highly recommend this camera, if you can sacrifice a little bit in sharpness for overall ease of use.