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FWIW, we just use a standard Sony miniDV camera. Personally, I kind of wish the thing would die so we could get one that's hard drive based instead of miniDV, because transferring from tape to the computer is a 1:1 time based operation. With miniDV set on the longer record time, a standard tape yields 90 minutes of recording, which generally has been fine for the job talks we have. These days in general we just set the camera up on a tripod in the back of the room, with a view that generally includes the podium and the screen, and leave is set that way for the talk. Although if you get someone that likes to walk around a lot, you might get parts of the tape where they're off screen :). If a group wants more than this, I generally ask them to supply a grad student that can operate the camera (after all, they're generally at these talks). These video cameras are pretty easy to operate, so it doesn't take more than a minute or so to cover how to deal with it. But in general, our people seem to be satisfied with the static view (I finally convinced the powers that be that is didn't make sense to be paying me to sit in these, although depending on the exact area of specialty of the presenter, I could find it anywhere from interesting, to completely lost and I haven't a clue). The results I'd definitely say are merely adequate, not great. Even without an external mic, I find that it picks up the speaker adequately, but that might also depend on the size of your room. But for the purpose of someone to review the talk if they missed it, it's good enough. Also, we haven't had anyone complain about being recorded for such purposes. The impression I've gotten is that this is actually becoming fairly routine, although that could vary based on the department that's doing this. But basically, any decently reviewed camcorder with a tripod is probably going to be adequate. Possibly with some form of external mic. I'd definitely recommend going with a hard drive based on though, because otherwise you'll need a computer with a firewire card on it that can be tied up for the same length of time as the talk. Maybe I can arrange someone to accidentally drop ours. Gary