4-500 is quite a good amount of money to spend. Right now video cameras are getting more and more advanced with HDD technology getting better, CCDs getting better, and the requirement to be HD compatible as more and more people go that way.
Still the cheapest and easiest way to go is with mini DV type camcorders. But it depends on how you are going to use it. Are you only going to import onto computer and burn films from there? Or straight to your video/dvd recorder? Or to the computer then to the camera then onto video/dvd recorder.
If you can afford to wait then now is the best time. There are only a couple of HDD (decent ones anyway) recorders. These offer HUGE storage capacities (16 hours for the Sony one) and fast data transmission. Eventually HDD will pretty much be the only type of camera available (spinning disc or flash type). Plus they will start to intruduce more features like different file formats or sizes. I had a play with the sony and the only size you could have was 1080 HD. Great yeah, but it uses a lot of storage space and you may only want to make a little clip in MP4 and bluetooth it to your or anyone elses phone perhaps. Gradually these features will be standard. But as with all electronic stuff the manufacturers are reluctant to put all features into their products so they can make newer models later on.
My advice is to either wait, if you can, or spend less for a fairly decent mini DV camcorder and then upgrade down the line.
It all depends on the features though. Touch screen? HD? Widescreen? Ability to transfer data ONTO to camcorder? How much zoom? Do you want to take pictures?
