As a new owner of the Optura 60, I am very satisfied with my new camcorder. The video quality and optical stabilization is excellent. I have noticed some motor noise which has previously been noted on several reviews
and threads on this forum. Should I look into an external zoom mic or are there adjustments on the cam that I can make? Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced external Mic that has worked for them. Thanks!

You'll definitely want a separate mic to get rid of the motor noise in all situations. The Rode Videmic or the Canon DM-50 are good reasonably priced mics.

The Canon DM-50 is a good choice if you just need a better run-around mic. It's compact, captures in stereo, and runs off the camcorder's battery. But, it only works with compatible Canon camcorders and you can't use it with other mics.

The Rode Videomic is a larger and more flexible. It can be used with any camcorder, and a secondary mic. It needs it's own battery. Go here (http://www.rode.com.au/?pagename=Products&product=VideoMic&PHPSESSID=fc11caf89bc1eef6d1f1eeda70f1fa4f) to see a nice video demonstration of the Videomic on Rode's site.

And also, see this post (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=49972) for a more detailed comparison.

If you feel your techno lust inviting you to invest in some audio equipment, there are higher end mics that are one step up, like the Sennheiser ME66, ME64, AT897, ad infinitum, See our audio forum (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=53) for more details.

Thanks for your great info!