minicar: Basically looking for a mini-dv to make short films with that wont cost me the earth :-)What is the cheapest Mini-DV camera that offers the ability to change apeture size and shutter speed?They all allow those changes through their menu options. Pick a camcorder, go to the manufacturer's web site support area, download the camcorder's manual and verify the camcorder does what you need before buying. You will also want a mic jack and manual audio control. To the best of my knowledge, the least expensive that has all these items is the Canon HV40. Unless you get an external field audio recorder like those from Zoom, Edirol, Tascam, M-Audio among many others... in which case, any miniDV camcorder meets your minimum requirements. The least expensive would be the Canon ZR960 and Sony DCR-HC62. But beware their poor low-light behavior. It is common among any camcorder with lens filter diameter less than 60mm and imaging chips smaller than 1/4".What is the cheapest Mini-DV camera that offers the ability to change apeture size and shutter speed?Most all miniDV cameras will have a high speed shutter. Because the camera needs to take a frame every 1/30 second, that is the minimum effective shutter speed, but higher shutter speeds are available. Very few will allow manual adjustment of aperture, because that is the primary method that the camera has to adjust proper video level. Some of the better cameras allow you force the iris open (to make focus more critical) by either turning on the high speed shutter, or using a neutral density filter. This does not work for all cameras because darker images causes the automatic increase of electrical gain instead of opening the iris. The very cheapest cameras do not offer much of an aperature range, typically f8 max, and even less if you get one with a high optical zoom ratio (ie over 10x). All miniDV cameras are made to work automatically to get best possible exposure and minimum grain noise. Except for manually activating the shutter for special shooting needs, i would recommend that you stay with the automatic settings for any camera that is using a lens priced under $20,000.