I have been working with my GL1 for just over 8 months now and having a great time doing it. I managed to get a very good deal on a completely mint camera (it was lost in storage for half a decade and was unused) I've learnt quite a lot in it, but it really shows its age technologically. The lack of XLR has been some trouble, and I just can't justify spending 300 dollars for a beachtek to put on this relic (especially when I am saving for a rod support system, too much crap attached to the tripod). I am been putting together a home hardware 35mm but the ground glass has been a bit of a roadblock, and I don't think the GL1 low light is good enough to use a home-made 35mm. I'd imagine the resale value of my GL1 even with charger, 12 hour batter and wide angle is a poor $1000 at best.

I've thought this camera could hold me off until the HD revolution comes but seeing the cost of the Hardware to process HD and the lack HD on the consumer side (crappy blu ray / HD-DVD performance) tells me it's not worth jumping into it at my level. The footage for the GL1 is very dry and noisy at times, and it seems to have a strange colour on it.

This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRN6gwKDXtU)is the original camera test I did after I first got the camera many months ago, the costume was for another film I was involved with that I had laying around. You can see what I am talking about.

I know it's more about the lighting and how it's shot than the camera, I believe that but It's getting harder and harder to find paying and non paying videographer/camera operator/ jobs when I mention I have a GL1, since it's such out moded technology. At least DVX100 is standard, and if they need AC and I mention I operate a DVX, and they are using an HVX, it's basically the same form factor.

I don't have a lot of money, (I make 9 dollars an hour at starbucks :( ) but I feel like a DVX100 is the camera I should have bought. You can see the dry colours and unusual blow-outs from the lighting on the canon. Much of it can be cleaned up by adjusting curves, etc. but at 5 minutes render time to the minute of footage it should be something I don't have to do in post. And the lack of audio monitors kills me. I wear headphones and I still can't be 100% sure the microphone battery hasn't completely died off.

My local henry's has new DVX100b for $2600 (http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ItemsDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&departmentId=10410&categoryId=10423&itemID=161602)

It's pretty much the best local deal I will get for a new camera. I considering buying used, there is a local one going for 1600 that has nearly 500 hours on the tapes, and doesn't have a charger so I think it's not worth the risk.

Importing from the states is a possiblity, but I know I was slammed with tariffs (NATFA my ass) with the canon that UPS double charged because UPS are cock suckers.

I have 1000 dollars saved up (was suppose to be for school, but us Canadians get student loans much easier than down south) And a another 2000 possibly coming my way from a family member's will that was also going to go towards the school fund. And maybe 700-1000 dollars from selling the GL1. Money is very tight so I want to be very careful on spending my savings.



Is it just too late in the game to jump to the DVX100 now? Should I save for another 2-3 years when I can afford a HVX200? Is the jump from the GL1 to the DVX enough to justify spending 3 grand?
So internet, what should I do? :P

Cheers.

PS: If there are any down town Toronto members, I'd really like to meet your camera :) I can pay for coffee.

Tom,

there are a lot of panasonic fans, not to many on this list perhaps.

for 2600 you can get an hd camera like an fx7 etc. What you can do is shoot in dv until you are ready for hd.

You can also shoot in hd crop down and then out put in sd or dv still keeping sd resolution after the crop. If you are doing free hand shooting this will help stabilize you footage or compose your frame better in post!! Just more options!!!

At this point I cant see the future in getting the 100 b.

Use the lesson you learnt from buying old technology with your gl1!!!

I still use my gl2 all the time, my xl2 is used for events and wildlife, but I am looking toward hd for the obvious reasons.

You might reconsider.

I've used an HDR-FX7 and it's a piece of junk. No XLR, poor quality footage for HD and sony, which usually means poor support.

HD footage takes up a lot of resources and storage space, so even if I did downscale I wouldn't address the upgrading of the computer problem.

cheers

Not clear to me what your purpose in buying the camcorder is. If it is to earn money shooting and editing video, do a business case/analysis - pencil it out - run the numbers. What will be your prospective income and expenses for the various options? If spending, say, $1600 net for a different camcorder gets you an additional $1500 in income compared to your current prospects with the GL1 over the life of the different camcorder it is probably not worth the change. Keep the GL1 a bit longer until an analysis shows there is a real gain for you.

And the SD vs HD question. You can get into HD for about US$770 with the Canon HV20 (but it is not an impressive looking/sounding product, if pro looks count). But HD needs a lot of PC resources to edit, an additional expense. HD looks nice, but until home players drop below $100 demand will probably be modest in the event video market.

If looking into camcorders, visit the user forums here and other sites to see what current owners are saying and doing with their machines. Compare this to what you plan to do with it. Watch the used market on e-bay, craigs list, and retailers with used departments to get a feel for value.

And if this is mainly a hobby, your money (and time) might be better spend on school, even if student loans are cheap. After all, add a bit of light, and the GL1 shoots fine, you can obtain XLR adapters (without phantom power) for substantially less than $300, and AA batteries are cheap, even if you use a fresh battery every week (battery life appears to range between 200 and 2000 hours depending on the mic being used).

The DVX is being offered at a very good price but I've got the feeling that the price is good because the SD road has come to an end. OK, you'll move to a bigger chipped camcorder that only has half the zoom range, but you'll be able to plug your XLRs straight in. The sidescreen is far bigger and the DVX certainly looks the part ...

until, that is, you switch it to the 16:9 mode. The best thing about heading off for an HDV camera is not necessarily the HDV mode funnily enough. It's all about aspect ratio, and anyone who will be paying you proper money to produce films for them will hardly be asking for 4:3 material. If you buy the DVX you're going to have a lot more trouble selling it than the FX7 you so despise. Calling that camera 'a piece of junk' makes me think you'd be better off using the saved money for college.

tom.