I use a Canon Elura mini DV and really love it. Simple to use, has firewire of course, and USB, separate mem card for digital stills, shoots in 16x9 <-- love this feature. A zillion manual modes and tweaks, smart hot shoe, lots of lens choices. And it is not expensive. I think it is just below the Optura that Haigha mentioned. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.