[Martyn Lenthall]

The autofocus is fine – no problems at all.

The only downfall with the camera is the internal mic – but as I bought it specifically to use an external mic, this isn’t an issue for me.

[Martyn Lenthall]

I kid you not – I have just spent about 10 hours trying to find a ‘budget’ camcorder that only needs 2 features.
1. HD recording
2. Mic input

There are lots on the market for £350 ($500) but I didn’t want to spend that kind of money.

CAMCORDER MANUFACTURERS – look at the number of people searching Google for a budget camcorder with a mic in !!

This is the path I have taken – I have read about 100 camera reviews, checked and double checked the manufacturers specs (a lot of websites say mic input when they do not have one) for all 100 cameras, then looked for a youtube video that showed the mic input an then finally tried to find one that (a) didn’t need to be imported from the US and get charges £100 customs duty (b) was available.

I hope that my hard (and stressful) work can be of some use to you – here is the model I have bought (and yes it DEFINITELY HD and has an input for the mic) and I paid just £110 ($170) for it:
Toshiba Camileo X400