I know you said you don't like Sony, however, we bought a Sony Action camera (competitor to Go Pro, better quality in most aspects, but don't advertise as well as GoPro) for AU $300. I use it for all our video recording, and have not used the DSL for video for months now - we alos had a camcorder, but don't use it. The action camera is so small, can fit in your pocket and is great to rip out to video the kids etc, waterproof case is great. See here for a quick vid the other day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFCGPvJIriA

It also came with a flip out screen, so you can use it like a normal camcorder. Obviously nowhere near the manual modes as a camcorder, but so much more portable and robust