I have a JVC GR-AX350U, an older (90's) VHS-C camcorder. Unfortunately, it has started eating tapes, so I guess it's time to replace it After reading many reviews on this site I am leaning towards the JVC GR-D72. Here is what I'm going to do with the camera:

1. Film my 1.5 yr old daughter and send tapes/DVDs to her grandparents who live far away.

2. At some point maybe get a helmet-cam setup for riding the dirt bikes.

Issues:
1. I film her mostly indoors, so I guess low-light capability is important.
2. I need to be easily able to duplicate the films to either VHS or DVD for her grandparents. Picture quality of the copies is not hugely important. They just want to see her clowning around since they can't visit very often.
3. We are a point-and-shoot family with no background in photography/film etc. My wife needs to be able to just pick it up and start taping.
4. I would like to be able to tranfer our older VHS-C to a digital media. Is analog-digital pass through important for this?
5. I have about $400 +/- to spend.
6. Videography will not become a hobby for us in the near future.
7. I don't have a DVD burner, but I do have a decent computer and a CD burner. I'm not exactly sure if that's needed, since I don't need to do much editing or music mixing, just duplicating.

It seems the JVC 72 fits within those parameters. It was reviewed as good low-light and a decent picture quality. It has the analog to digital pass-through. It is in the price range if I do some searching or try to find used. It has A/V input, so a helmet cam should work with it. It seems to be pretty good for point and shoot kind of work.

My question: Am I on the right track here? Is 10x zoom enough? Would I be better off just getting my old camera fixed, as it does everything I need it to, just not digitally?

Thanks for your inputs.
Keith

I would not bike with any MiniDV cam to capture video. There are specific cams to do that kind of thing. In fact I think there is a thread about it somewhere here.
The 72 has 16X zoom not 10X.
The 72 is good as any low priced camcorder at low light and better than most others as well.
Just use the A/V output cables to your VCR to copy.
Connect the same cables to your VHS-C camera and change the 72's menu setting for A/V to "IN" to capture old videos to digital tape.
When you turn on the 72 to video family, just select "Auto" (the normal method) and everything works fine: beach to birthday party.
If you have a burner program such as Nero, you can make VCDs (low quality videos on CD blanks) from videos stored on your computer and converted to MPEG-1 format by something such as VideoStudio8 (free trial download from www.ulead.com).
To move your digital tapes to the computer, you need a FireWire card and cable. My card, cable, and Videostudio came in one box (from WalMart).
If you use our "search" dropdown above on this page, and type in HELMET, you'll get several threads about helmet cam setup.

(I can only speak to the "helmet cam" part of your question)

Don't believe JVC has a good model for helmetcam use. Sony is the preferred choice (for a few reasons). Sonys also usually have a Lanc port - something you will want for a helmet camera. Unfortunatly, I don't know a model that meets your $400 target.

Here is a list of compatible camcorders for Helmet cam use.

Sargon

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