smart: I am looking to buy in the $ 300 range and like the posibility of dumping digitally (quick) compaired to real time with a mini dv.Which is better video quality a mini dv camcorder or one that records on sdhc?The medium doesn't have any direct effect on the video quality, but different video formats use different media. MiniDV records to tape and uses a lightly compressed video format - this gives you the best chance of good quality video. As you've already noted, the downside is that you capture the video in real time, though it's really not a big deal. Video formats that use flash memory tend to be highly compressed. The compression is achieved by throwing most of the video data away so, while it may be ok to start with, the quality quickly degrades once you start to edit it. Even burning it to DVD can kill the quality! These formats are also unsuitable for recording rapid movement or lighting changes. btw, MiniDV IS digital - the difference is that it streams the data whereas other formats use file transfer.