Camcorder design

I'm trying to find a digital camcorder that will meet my needs, and it's tough.

Extensive discussions on a list used by a number of ethnographers, many of whom use camcorders for fieldwork, revealed the following issues.

First, all camcorders seem designed for the right-handed. I'm left handed. I'm a left hander in a world of right-handed magic, in the words of Geoffrey Bowker and Susan Leigh Star.

Second, the vast majority are designed so that the tape load is in the base. This makes filming using a tripod for more than 60 minutes (a) a fiddle (b) disruptive to the environment being filmed. Taken together, these 'features' make both hand-held and tripod use less than easy.

While camcorder these days come with all manner of functions rarely needed by the vast majority, these two fundamental issues - for me at least - don't seem a concern for manufacturers.