I have a Canon XA10 and was going to use an older SD cam with it in a multicam shoot, but think it will be better to use another HD camera, plus my SD cam uses tape, so it would be harder to match up the files against the tape. I'll use the audio from the XA10 and just need a cheaper but still decent consumer cam for the other angle that also records in AVCHD, with the same framerate available to make everything go smoothly in post.. Any suggestions?

Whichever Canon is a notch below the G10 (I don't know the model) would be a no brainer, IMO. That is the lowest I'd go, it would at least match pretty well. If you haven't done multicamera before, you cannot appreciate how badly mismatched cameras can look, so you are correct to give this some thought.

Thanks for the reply, do you think it's absolutely necessary to use the same brand, Canon, for the second camera? I will look and see what the next step down from the HG G10 is..

HF-M400, HF-M40, HF-M41 all use the same CMOS Pro sensor as the G10/XA10. They all do 60i, PF30 and PF24. Excellent cameras with a lot of manual controls for their price range. I don't think you would be able to see much difference between the footage. These cameras have now been replaced with the HF-M500, HF-M50 and HF-M52. There is supposed to be a low light improvement to the CMOS Pro sensor. They did reduce the number of SD card slots from two to one though.

do you think it's absolutely necessary to use the same brand, Canon, for the second camera?

Of course it is not absolutely necessary. It is also not necessary to use the XA10, when you can also get a cheap camcorder for $100 used from Craigslist. You can use any camcorder you choose. I gave you my advice based on what makes sense and will give good results. If you don't care if the cameras match then anything will work pretty much. It's when you go to edit you would be complaining about trying to match cameras in post. That is no fun, believe me.

Put another way, I've done exactly what you're considering. I did it about 8 years ago, I went cheap on my very first second camera and eventually realized I wasted my money. But some things you just have to experience to figure out. At least that's me, I always learn the hard way, sadly.

I just ran a compare on the models mentioned and it seems the only major difference between them is internal media storage size and memory card options. I'm not concerned with low light so that's no big deal. The HF M500 is looking pretty good actually, going to check that one out some more, thanks for the suggestion!! =)

The word on another forum is that the new Canon consumer cam that's below the G10 is actually BETTER in some ways than the XA10. The sensor is a newer and more 'tweaked' design. That was the experience of an experienced XA10 user.

The word on another forum is that the new Canon consumer cam that's below the G10 is actually BETTER in some ways than the XA10. The sensor is a newer and more 'tweaked' design. That was the experience of an experienced XA10 user.

Is it the VIXIA HF S30 that you're talking about?

Canon VIXIA HF S30 Flash Memory Camcorder 5127B001 B&H Photo

Deborah

Is it the VIXIA HF S30 that you're talking about?

I think Mark is talking about the HFM52/50/500 which also use the HD CMOS Pro Image Sensor. The HFS30 uses a sensor that does not perform well in low light and exhibits aliasing for video.

Thanks everyone, I decided to go with the new M500, haven't obtained one yet, but will soon!

I'd like to hear your experiences with it in how it compares to the XA10 in low light.

Mike, there is a very nice deal in the classifieds here for an XA10. I was looking for a used one two weeks ago and wish I had gotten this one.