Firstly Hi to everyone, this is my first post so go easy on me as it’s been so long since my filming days that I’m pretty much a beginner again!!

I used to be a communications officer with British Aerospace and was involved in everything from shooting safety videos and sales videos to air to air photography and graphic design. I have since carved a career in graphic design and no longer take part in shoots etc. However, i very much enjoyed the filming side of it and i’m looking to get back into it now that life has settled down a bit!

Firstly I have many friends in bands etc that i do a lot of design work for. I have been asked to shoot a few videos for them and showreels for labels etc involving some after effects work also. As these guys are good friends I am not making any money on this and therefore would like to shoot a few weddings (which i get asked to do regular) now and again to pay for any equipment I buy. So, basically I am out of touch with the latest technologies and would like some advice on cameras to suit my needs.

I have an older version of Premier and would like to just upgrade this instead of moving to something new, also I know my way around premier therefore wouldn’t want to waste to much time learning another package (although I am open to suggestions if premier has fallen behind it’s competitors).

On the camera side of things, I need something kind of middle of the road. I don’t want to spend thousands on a camera, but at the same time, if I am to film any weddings I will need something of decent quality to provide a quality recording. As my main interest is live gigs etc at the moment i will need something that works well in low light situations as well as decent auto focus (as 9 times out of 10 I will probably be quite tipsy when filming!) and don’t want to be pulling focus manually.

Everything would be burned down to dvd after editing. I’m in the process of reading up on HD cameras but to be honest I’m not sure if there is a need for me to purchase this kind of system at the moment. I’m thinking that there may be nice DV cameras that have dropped in price since the introduction of HD that would be more in my price range with the option of upgrading maybe in a few years.

Any suggestions and advice are greatly appreciated.

My suggestion is to read the older posts here in this forum. ALL of this has been discussed ad-nauseum, and anything posted here will not be as good as what has already been said.

Recap:
two VX2100s, Two Senn G2 kits, 2 tripods, monopod, shotgun mic, on-cam light, lots of batteries, good shoes.