Best Camcorder for Media Class

Sheer timing and luck put us in a position to order right at the time this new Panasonic shoulder mount flash memory camcorder hit the market. Perfect for a media production class, either high school or college. It is light, relatively inexpensive for a big camcorder and the video is stunning. There is an external mic jack in the front - just a mini plug but that's all we need. If you are a media educator, you know that equipment can take a beating from students, just because 100 students handle the camcorders every day. That's asking a lot of any technology. So far, the results with this camcorder have been spectacular. Our editing towers have the flash memory port so they take it out of the camcorder, plug it in, move the footage and they are editing. Make sure you buy at least a 16GB memory card. Otherwise you will be cleaning memory cards daily. Luckily Premiere Pro CS5 accepts any format and handles HD very well so we are exceptionally pleased with our purchase.

Panasonic AG-AC7 Shoulder-Mount AVCHD Camcorder with Lighting Kit Panasonic AG-AC7 Shoulder-Mount AVCHD Camcorder with Lighting Kit, Full HD 1920 x 1080 (60i) Recording, Also Records Standard-Def 480i, 23x Intelligent / 16.8x Optical Zoom, 35.8mm (35mm Equivalent) at Full Wide, Professional-Style Ergonomics, Manual Focus Ring, Manual Iris & More, Records to SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards, Dimmable On-Camera LED (Draws Only 3W), Swivel Shoe Mount for Light, Padded Mini Camporter Bag AG-AC7 Professional Camcorders (ENG) AG-AC7 Shoulder-Mount AVCHD Camcorder with Lighting Kit

Panasonic AG-AC7 Shoulder-Mount AVCHD Camcorder Panasonic AG-AC7 Shoulder-Mount AVCHD Camcorder, Full HD 1920 x 1080 (60i) Recording, Also Records Standard-Def 480i, 23x Intelligent / 16.8x Optical Zoom, 35.8mm (35mm Equivalent) at Full Wide, Professional-Style Ergonomics, Manual Focus Ring, Manual Iris & More, Intelligent Auto Mode, Touchscreen LCD Menu (2.7"), Long-Life Battery - Over 4 Hours, Records to SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards AG-AC7 Professional Camcorders (ENG) AG-AC7 Shoulder-Mount AVCHD Camcorder

Pal version:

Panasonic AG-AC7 Shoulder-Mount AVCHD Camcorder Panasonic AG-AC7 Shoulder-Mount AVCHD Camcorder, Full HD 1920 x 1080 (60i) Recording, Also Records Standard-Def 480i, 23x Intelligent / 16.8x Optical Zoom, 35.8mm (35mm Equivalent) at Full Wide, Professional-Style Ergonomics, Manual Focus Ring, Manual Iris & More, Intelligent Auto Mode, Touchscreen LCD Menu (2.7"), Long-Life Battery - Over 4 Hours, Records to SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards AG-AC7 Professional Camcorders (ENG) AG-AC7 Shoulder-Mount AVCHD Camcorder