Do you have any product recommendations for these components? I love the idea of having the DVD recorder with a firewire input and skipping the computer step. Our computers (and software) are not stellar.
It sounds sensible, although your video editing options will be a bit limited.
For product recommendations, a search I made came up with these (All including HDD + Firewire in AND out):
Grundig GDRH-5625 (w/USB)
JVC DR-MHx00 series
LG RH-29x series
Panasonic DMR-Exxx series (no Firewire out, but with card reader!)
Philips DVDR7xx series
Pioneer DVR-545HX (w/USB)
Samsung DVD-HR7xx series (w/USB)
The model numbers differ between US and the rest of the world (due to the PAL/NTSC issue), so they are most likely called something else over there...
I don't know if you need a separate audio recorder, or if you will rely on the internal sound of the videocam only?
A recent thread about rugged gear might be interesting for you:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,96738.0.htmlThe Marantz PMD620 came up on top of this informal poll, so you might consider that as a separate audio device.
I let someone else chime in on the mic + preamp + videocam recommendations.
/Jan