Digital Video Camera

Cameras that record to MiniDV tapes are the best quality consumer cameras.  Some lower end pro cameras use them too.  A lot of Sundance and Indie filmakers use them because they are such good quality for not much dough.  They record DVD resolution (720x480), but it is uncompressed.  The ones that record onto DVDs directly, compress the video into MPEG 2, so you lose some quality.  That is about all I know.   So I guess all I am saying is start with MiniDV as the format and see how nice a camera your budget can buy you.   They start at less than $300 for the basic home user and go up to several thousand. 

Edit - I just remembered when I was shopping for mine, a light was super important for getting good indoor shots.  Try to get one with a built in light.   An external mic jack is nice if you want to do some amateur film stuff.  For just shooting the kids, the standard internal one should be fine.    

I sold digital videocameras when they first were coming out... and having watched the market since then, I have to say that it is hard to go wrong with Sony.  They just have a nice package.  I'm not saying others aren't good, but Sony is consistently good. 

And I second the light comment...  

 Peace,
Brian

my mom just bought a Canon digital for christams.  It records onto DVD-R's.  Even though it does not offer options for raw recording, it does have three different compression levels, with the lowest level yielding really good quaity.  It does record in 1080i, so even compressed, you are getting HD resolution.  so unless you are watching on a huge projection HD Tv, you probably wouldn't notice any degredation.

The thing I liked about the particular camera is that it can record in wide screen and it has the option for taking stills.  You flick the mode button with your thumb, and it turns into a digital still camera.  The record/stop button becomes the focus/shutter button.

I do like the higher resolution of the DVtapes, but it's so much easier to take a disc out of the camera and throw it in a DVD player or computer, then to have a tape reader, and the gain in resolution doesn't justify the expense/difficulty for I would use it for.

I would go with a Sony Mini DV Tape camcorder.  Like stated, stay away from hard drive based ones and DVD recording ones.  They aren't universal, and compress.

As far as a digital camera, you CANNOT GO WRONG with a Canon Digital Rebel Xti! 

Digital Cameras are coming out with Hard Drives that you can put up to 7 hrs of digital video on the camera then down load it into your computer to put on a dvd disk. I like the Hi Dev idea but don't know a thing about it for recording.

For Digital still cameras I would suggest going with a Cannon Rebel XTi. It doens't have the delay when you push the button to take the pic.

Good Luck!

PS Lara, no need to stop and change the tape after an hour!!