I haven't been in the market for cameras for a long time now, but when I was I know Panasonic made a fairly cheap 3 CCD camera. Whatever you do, if you want good picture quality, find something that's got 3 CCDs and then TEST it if you have any opportunity at all. Even if you just take a tape and see if you can shoot some footage around the store it is a good idea, then you can take that tape and (using a borrowed camera) check out what you think of the quality when you bring it in to your system for editing. Shoot a variety of shots, high and low contrast, high and low color situations, moving, still, etc... That'll at least give you an idea of what the final product looks like, enough to say whether its worth the risk of the purchase.
