Canon/Panasonic/Sony HDV Cam Comparison at DVinfo.net

Tony Peltier · January 23rd, 2006, 01:12 AM

I'm just curious, what camera performs the best in low light? For example, when shooting a concert that's not lite for video. I did a shoot this past Christmas with a Canon XL-2 and the image looked great when there was enough light, but when there was not white light, just low colors the camera performed poorly and heavily saturated the image.

I've heard that Sony's can perform best, but I've never seen that personally.

Any suggestions?

Mathieu Ghekiere · January 23rd, 2006, 07:24 AM

For low light, a Sony PD170 would be best I believe. Or a VX2100.

Tony Peltier · January 23rd, 2006, 09:53 PM

Thanks for the response. I had a gut feeling, but just wanted to hear someone else say it.

Don Palomaki · January 24th, 2006, 05:03 AM

Were you looking for High Definition or Standard Definition?

Mathieu Ghekiere · January 24th, 2006, 11:27 AM

Oh yeah, forgot to mention: PD170 and VX2100 are SD of course.

For HD the case could be different... although the Z1 and FX1 from Sony seem to perform very good in low light (although not as good as their SD brothers, mentioned above) Shannon said the XL-H1 was very good in low light too.
(But the Cannon is VERY expensive, well one of the most expensive cams talked about here)

Tony Peltier · January 24th, 2006, 01:34 PM

<Were you looking for High Definition or Standard Definition?>

We're looking for HD.

I did get a chance to see an old Sony PD-150 in action and was very impressed with the picture quality in low light. I'm wondering if the same would be true if you're shooting a live stage show (concert) where the lighting is not set for video.

Basically what HDV cam would be THE BEST?

Mathieu Ghekiere · January 24th, 2006, 01:54 PM

http://www.videoaktiv.de/text.php?pos=|36|124&nav_id=124

This link came from this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=58996

It seems the Canon XL-H1 is VERY good in low light... but it has the big price tag too, so the Sony could still be a good contender, especially given it's price.

January 23rd, 2006, 01:12 AM	#1
Tony Peltier Tourist Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 3	Canon/Panasonic/Sony HDV Cam Comparison I'm just curious, what camera performs the best in low light? For example, when shooting a concert that's not lite for video. I did a shoot this past Christmas with a Canon XL-2 and the image looked great when there was enough light, but when there was not white light, just low colors the camera performed poorly and heavily saturated the image. I've heard that Sony's can perform best, but I've never seen that personally. Any suggestions?

January 23rd, 2006, 07:24 AM	#2
Mathieu Ghekiere Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,195	For low light, a Sony PD170 would be best I believe. Or a VX2100. __________________ http://productionsofthe3rdkind.com http://pr3k.com

January 24th, 2006, 05:03 AM	#4
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,489	Were you looking for High Definition or Standard Definition? __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

January 24th, 2006, 11:27 AM	#5
Mathieu Ghekiere Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,195	Oh yeah, forgot to mention: PD170 and VX2100 are SD of course. For HD the case could be different... although the Z1 and FX1 from Sony seem to perform very good in low light (although not as good as their SD brothers, mentioned above) Shannon said the XL-H1 was very good in low light too. (But the Cannon is VERY expensive, well one of the most expensive cams talked about here) __________________ http://productionsofthe3rdkind.com http://pr3k.com

January 24th, 2006, 01:54 PM	#7
Mathieu Ghekiere Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,195	http://www.videoaktiv.de/text.php?pos=\|36\|124&nav_id=124 This link came from this thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=58996 It seems the Canon XL-H1 is VERY good in low light... but it has the big price tag too, so the Sony could still be a good contender, especially given it's price. __________________ http://productionsofthe3rdkind.com http://pr3k.com

January 23rd, 2006, 09:53 PM	#3
Tony Peltier Tourist Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 3	Thanks for the response. I had a gut feeling, but just wanted to hear someone else say it.

January 24th, 2006, 01:34 PM	#6
Tony Peltier Tourist Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 3	<Were you looking for High Definition or Standard Definition?> We're looking for HD. I did get a chance to see an old Sony PD-150 in action and was very impressed with the picture quality in low light. I'm wondering if the same would be true if you're shooting a live stage show (concert) where the lighting is not set for video. Basically what HDV cam would be THE BEST?