I've got about $500 USD to spend on a video camera. Does anyone here know much about them? I'm looking for one that can take HD videos (I'm guessing 1080p?) has good FPS for action (sports and dance), decent optical zoom. Most likely using a harddisk with an SD slot as well if possible. Ideally it'd work fairly well in low light situations, too. I also quite like having manual settings to play around with. Taking still shots is nice but not necessary.

Halp me

I really only know about "prosumer" HD cameras that typically run for at least triple what you're willing to pay. At that price you can get an HD camcorder, though I don't know any specifics.

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-hd-camcorders/ might be helpful.

What are you looking to do with this camera?

Both I and my sister will be using it. She'll be recording sports (soccer and cross country), little interviews of athletes, and home videos. I'll be using it for recording dancing (hiphop and such, hence action and good FPS), and making videos for short films, which I'll then be adding 3d stuff to and effects and such. So it's fairly general purpose, but I doubt a flip will be good enough.