i dont know if this adds anything here but:

I LOVE THE PANI GS400! It's a 3 ccd camcorder with a 4mp camera (but I dont use that much, i have a canon d300). anyway, its a great camcorder but a bit pricey i guess. there seems to some transport problem with the ntsc version, but mines pal and i have started taking it everywhere. small, good bat life, etc.. For a larger miniDV cam, I suggest the XLs1 which you can get cheap these days. I love this camera even more.

on premiere pro and ae6.5, they are great products, coupled with photoshop cs (and all that other stuff) plus nero, it seems one can do everything short of hollwood. good luck!