Darwin J. Sanoy wrote in message <34900F5E.868C91AA@voicenet.com>...

>Don't let stereo sound be one of your deciding points unless you will be
>using external mikes. The microphones on camcorders are so close together
>there wouldn't be much difference between stereo and mono.
>djs.

Huh?? This hasn't been true in my experience - one of the delights
of video recording with mini-camcorders is the nice pick-up of stereo
sound - and even though the mics are very close together, many are
capable of quite good stereo imaging (assuming a decent play-back
system, not just the little-speakers-at-the-bottom-corners-of-the-TV...).
Though the sound quality can often be improved with an external mic -
especially with mini-DV camcorders, whose internal mics pick up camera
whine rather promenently...
David Ruether
http://www.fcinet.com/ruether
ruether@fcinet.com