Julia, the current Club secretary

What equipment should I buy for moviemaking? Don't buy the first thing you see! Camcorders record in various formats, eg mini DV, DVD, memory card. Make sure the video can be easily transferred to a computer for editing. Mini DV is still my favourite. Don't get a DVD camcorder - they are not designed for easy editing!   Look for manual functions which will be useful, ie white balance, focus, aperture and shutter speed. You may want to be able to attach an external microphone. Some camcorders also have a backlighting adjustment to counteract the dazzling effect of too much light behind the subject.   With computers, the main choice is between PC and Apple Mac. You can get basic editing suites for both. The main thing is to make sure you have enough memory, as the more you have, the more footage you can play with at once.   Once you start, you'll find you also need a tripod. It's a balancing act between cost, stability and weight. A smooth panning action is useful, and you may not get that on a very cheap tripod.