Hey, I am a Brit so haven't got the game (expecting it to arrive Friday) but I always played Fallout 3 on the 3rd person perspective as I found it more immersive and I find 1st person shooting more difficult.

I've heard complaints about 3rd person perspective and I don't mind if it's bad aiming as I don't mind switching to first person or VATS for that but can I keep the camera behind me like in this video? As It's my preferred distance...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-x-1fm2cq8 it's from 1.08 to about 1.11 so very short clip

Yes you can.

The camera is definitely a littler tighter over the shoulder than Fallout 3.