Buying an HD camcorder

[LeFlic]

I am starting to research HD camcorders.
I am happy about the spec I am after but wondered if anyone could assist with the following question.

The purchase is for a trip to the States in May. Would it be cheaper to buy when I get there? Or in duty free at the airport?

I haven't travelled long haul for a few years so I am out of touch with prices and practicalities.

Any thoughts and advice welcomed.

[Jaded]

Several points:

Don't get caught out by State Sales Tax in the US. Prices are quoted before tax, unlike with VAT here.Different States have different rates. If you are going to several states it may be worth buying it in the state with the lowest tax rate.

It will come set up for 110v US power, which means you will need an adaptor back here.

The exchange rate will be the key.

Throw away the box and make sure you have used the thing, got fingerprints over it, know how to use it if asked etc. for when you bring it back. Unlikely you would get stopped, but you wouldn't want a nasty Duty/VAT bill when you arrived back home.

[Really Ancien]

HD Camcorder covers a lot of ground. Choice will be largely down to how you are going to edit the result. Do you have a model in mind and do you already have any video that you might want to incorporate into new projects? If you already have PAL 25fps stuff buying an NTSC 29.97fps camera would cause problems.

Damon.

[LeFlic]

Thanks for the replies - you both raised a couple of things I hadn't thought about.

I think I may keep it simple and buy before I go. I am not looking for anything top of the range but have decided I want HD, a reasonable optical zoom and image stabilising/anti shake. I haven't really narrowed it down to any specific models.

I use a Canon DSLR and might check if Canon camcorders use the same batteries to save on chargers and have some resilience.

I may be back with some more questions as the research continues.