Sony Handycam DCR-VX2100 Mini DV Camcorder

I purchased my DCR VX-2100 used from a buddy and we have filmed countless hours on this thing and it looks and sounds as good as ever, and i did i mention its tough as hell. We dropped it lens first onto pavement out of ford f-150 with a 6 inch lift, and all that happened was the microphone mesh came off on the right side but other then that it still works like a champ and the quality is as good as ever. I have used the canon GL1 and GL2 and i find the DCR much easier to use then either one of those, although the GL2 has a "cleaner" look to it, i find it much harder to operate the features. With the steady shot feature on you can achieve great shots while holding it by the handle, we do alot of ride along shots for skating, snowboarding, and biking and they always come out clean. For transitions between temps i have never had a condensation problem, we also film with a HDR-FX1 1080i and it has had more problems with the temp change then the DCR.The original battery is a little weak for the camera but with the upgrade to the NPF-960 battery you can film for multiple hours as long as you have enough tapes to keep feeding it. The basic features are very easy to operate, and there are some nice advanced features as well, but this will take a little more work to learn to use, but when you are buying a camera of this caliber you should expect that the device to take a little camera literacy to operate some of the features. The zoom on the top handle has 2 settings to make zoom smooth when it is needed. My only complaints are one the DCR has only standard RCA outputs and not both RCA and integrated AV jack, and second there is no lock out for the main zoom controls i.e. when your are filming using the top handle sometimes your palm will bump the main zoom control and cause undesired zoom. But basically a great camera overall