Nikon D3100 vs. Nikon P520

Stay away from bridge camera's such as the P520, to many concessions, to small of a sensor, (almost always) shitty glass, they may have the look of a dslr, but the performance of a point & shoot.

You want to shoot video, don't look at photo cameras... Go into the M&A directory and fill out the "what camera" thread and post back here.

My budget is around 500 dollars, I am not trying to get into filming huge, I compete and just trying to make some good edits on my travels and such..so I am not trying to go crazy.

T2i/T3i with a kit lens. Canon>Nikon for video, when it comes to equivalent models such as txi/d3x00 or xxd/d5x00

how the flying fuck did it occur to you that this might be a good recommendation? she said she wants something that will do the work for her, is easy to use, something her friends can use, something that is affordable. a dslr is literally the worst possible camera for her. there's no auto focus, extremely limited auto exposure capabilities, terrible audio without an external mic, and you recommended a fucking kit lens as her only lens? you do realize that camcorders have lenses that cover giant focal ranges? lenses that don't change focus when you zoom in? a kit lens covers a pretty shitty range, there's no point in buying a dslr if you're limited to 18-55mm. anyone with a brain could go on forever about how retarded your post is, please put at least a little thought into a recommendation before making it.

hate to rant but damn, there's no need for suggestions like this in m&a

I am sorry to be so oblivious about this but I have never been the one behind the camera, also its hard to get people to constantly be filming but my partner in crime and I are always going up together. I feel like there are not that many girls who put out webisode/consistent edits every month and I want to start doing that, people put their heart and soul into skiing and I want to share my love for the sport with others. I have explored/researched NS and other places, but the talk is way to techy for me to understand. I want the quality to be good of course, I don't want to have to struggle with getting shoots or my friends who also aren't big into filming. What would your suggestions be?

Which camcorder for 500?

Here are the 91 camcorders B&H has for sale under 500 dollars.

Personally I'd recommend getting a used Panasonic TM700, it'll be much better than any new camcorder for under 500. It has great image quality right out of the box, but full manual controls to grow into as you get better with filming.

Listen to this guy...

So I made a decision on a camera, I got the CanonT3i, and got a couple shots on it when the snow fell here in Utah of the homies shredding the little snow that we got the night before Halloween. I also bought a little stabilizing handle for filming on the mountain when it opens up. Check out the edit Heather Thomas and I made, the first shots before are with a gopro but the last shots in the park are from the new camera. Critics would be nice..thank you!!