My son gave me his old camera, a 30X panasonic with DVC and card capabilities...I took pretty crappy stuff at first, but I got pretty satisfied with what I've been able to accomplish. My wife bought me what we thought might be an upgrade JVC Video Camcorder for around $300. I was not happy with it...to small for an old, fumble-fingered half-blind guy, and I could not seem to hold it still enough. When I damaged the ol' panasonic in a fall, my wife went on e-bay and got the exact model with its extras like new for $165. I know there is much better equipment out there, but I'm pretty happy with what I can do with my panasonic. It can serve you well until someday you can afford something in the $400-$1000 price range.