video cameras

[me+3]

Hi all, I been out for awhile. I am a guide and do it full time. Alot of our clients have suggested we take video for shows and to show them whats going on all year. Which is cool, put a new twist on this guiding thing for me anyway. So I am looking into this video camera thing for our hunts and while I am good in the mountains, the same is not true with technology. I have a rough idea of what I am looking for, but no idea on brands models or any other blah blah blah. This is what I need. Something that takes quality footage and is very durable. Needs to be compact, and able to attach a zoom lens to the front. A hand held HD cam is what I'm after, but I don't want a piece of junk, or to get my pocket book racked across the coals. Our hunts are backcountry and by horseback, so toughness is key. I would like to be able to watch elk at 1000 yrds or closs to it so I don't have to worry about spooking them. Would like something I can attach a stablizer too(or whatever that thing is called) not a tri-pod, some form of telescoping rod. I understand that this will be expensive, and am willing to pay for quality and reliability. Anyway, enough rambling, any help would be great. Thanks

[Dawg]

Canon GL's are good cameras. Campbell Outdoors has pretty decent package deals.

[Stinger-Hunter]

Make sure you can get one that allow the videos to be uploaded and edited fairly easily. you'll want to edit those videos and buying one that requires a bunch of technology to even import them into Imovie or moviemaker can be a pain.

I bought a nice Sony a couple years ago and the videos were incompatible without getting a new driver, etc. I basically wasted $800.