These days, the low-middle consumer level up through
the low end commercial production level is occupied
by Digital-8 and Mini-DV/DVCam, with D-8 or Mini-DV
the area of highest interest for you, I suspect. If
you have no legacy of recorded Hi-8 tapes, you may
want to limit your search to one-chip Mini-DV
camcorders (with the possible exception of the $1600
Sony TRV900, which offers noticeable image-quality
and low-light advantages over the one-chippers...).
For more, look at these web sites (among others):
--Critical reviews of several Mini-DV camcorders
(VX1000, TRV900, XL-1, GL-1, EZ30U, VX2000,
plus others), with frame-grabs, can be found at:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/camcorder-comparison.htm
--Comparison of the various Sony Mini-DV offerings
(VX2000/PD150, TRV900/PD100a, TRV20/PC100/110,
TRV30/PC120, TRV11/17/PC5/9), with frame-grabs, is at:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/camcorder--comparison.htm
--Various Mini-DV camcorders are compared on this site:
www.bealecorner.com
--There are various frame-grab comparisons at:
http://www4.big.or.jp/~a_haru/index.html
(nevermind the Japanese characters, just click on
the model names...)