The gigantic "which camera should I buy" thread!

[Ian Wood]

Sure, but I'm actually on a budget, which is why I arrived at the XL2 in the first place. Obviously, if you can convince me, that would be a good thing.

Okay, actually I'm not really poor, but I would like to establish a maximum cost because of various other reasons.

[Patrick Marte]

I need a camera (under $5,000) for a self-financed documentary I'm producing now and others I hope to follow it with. I'm hoping to hit the festival circuit and then hopefully get into a broadcast arrangement.

I need: HD and 24p (preferably native). Run & gun friendly, and no expensive storage devices.

The leading contender right now is the Sony Z7u. I like the HVX200, but I refuse to pay $900 for P2 cards and I hear workflow is a nightmare.

Any and all suggestions welcome. Thanks!

[Chris Hurd]

The current HD camcorder selection is so broad right now that there's no such thing as a wrong decision. If you like the Sony Z7, then that's definitely what you should go for. Be sure to budget for a decent tripod, extra batteries, etc.

[George Muir]

Hello all

While searching the internet for information on video cameras I came across this site. What a wonderful site this is...tons of information.
I have a couple questions I hope some of you experts could answer for me regarding which video camera to buy.

First of all,...let me say,...I'm just an amateur with a video camera doing a little videoing for the radio control airplane flying club I belong to, and I really don't know much about the 'technical' ins and outs of a video camera.

First question is: What camera is best suited for the conditions I video in? I'm here in the desert area of southern California, where the sun shines about 350 days a year,..so lighting conditions will almost always be bright and sunny. Great sound quality isn't a real issue,...as long as it can pick up the sound of an airplane flying by. A shoulder mounted camera is a MUST,...as I need the stability it provides. I'm currently using a hand held Panasonic PV-GS250,....and of course,video of a fast flying-by airplane is quite shaky. I have a 20 year old full size VHS video camera that I can get much smoother video with,....so the shoulder mount is a must. I've tried using a tripod,...but when a jet flies by at close to 200 mph 30 feet away from me, it just doesn't allow the movement I need.
I'm leaning toward AVCHD and tapeless,...but mini DV is not out of the question. As far as focus goes,...I've found that the Auto Focus on this PV-GS250 can not keep focused on a fast flying airplane, ....and manual focus is even worse, ( I'm slower than the camera at focusing)...and the EIS makes little difference on or off..so,..I'm wondering if some of the new cameras are better than others with the Auto Focus and the OIS. If so,..which brands are better than others? At times I've found it best to set to manual focus and focus on something far away, and leave it that way, planes stay in focus that way.

Also,...the LCD is worthless to me,..as the sun is always behind me and shining right on the screen, so a good viewfinder is a plus also.

I've been looking at the Panasonic AG-HMC70,..and wondering if it would handle the conditions I've described. Do I need a higher bitrate than the 13 Mbps this camera has? (Admittedly, I don't even know what a 'bitrate' is,..like I said...amateur).
Are there other cameras in somewhat the same price range (or higher) that are more suited for this kind of videoing?

These videos I make are just for fun,...for posting on our club website......and burning DVD's for the guys....nothing professional,..so not looking for perfection here...just want an improvement over what I have now.

Here is an example video,.....you can see what I'm talking about concerning the focusing and the shaky video. http://cvrcclubvideos.us/BITW2009/BITW_2009_34.wmv

Thanks to anyone who can help me with suggestions

George

[Jim Rog]

Hello

I am after a new smallish consumer camcorder i already have the Sony FX1 and want something to go along side this that can produce the same high quality pictures this camera does, the FX1 is great but i want something much smaller and lighter

I know the Canon HV40 is coming out but from what i have read the HV20 HV30 and soon to be HV40 are all good cameras but are rather on the flimsy side.

So if anyone can recommend anything else i would be grateful

The only requirement i have is that it records onto Mini DV Tape and 24p would be nice if possible as i wont be doing to much editing and do like the film kind of style to my footage

Budget no more then $1500 – around £1,000

Thanks

[Adam Gold]

If you need a shoulder-mount then the only reasonably priced choices are the Panny you mentioned or, at about $500 less, Sony HD1000U. Other shoulder-cams are four to five times the price. The Sony is only one CMOS vs. 3-CCD, but for your purposes that shouldn't make much difference. And the Sony shoots MiniDV tape.

[Ansab Khan]

Hi Folks:

I own a canon XL2. I usually do media coverages using my camera. But as you all know XL2 is sort of an attention grabber. And it is a big camera and heavy as well. I want to buy smaller a camcorder type camera inorder to do some raw coverages. With the condition that it should have a 3CCD lens type. Can some one recommend such type of camera. One more thing, i dont want to buy a very expensive camera. Sort of cheap but can do the job.

like i always say you guys are the experts....

Thanks.........

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Ansab Khan

... it should have a 3CCD lens type.

Be advised that the former advantage of 3CCD (color accuracy) is now equaled by single-chip CCD or CMOS with an RGB color filter. Single-chip RGB will usually meet or exceed 3CCD color these days. That said, if you want 3CCD then you might want to look at JVC's Everio line.

[Majerle Jay Francis]

Yup I also need the best HD video camera possible for around or under 2,000 AUS/ 1,000 EUR/ 1,600 CAD/ 1,300 USD/ 120, 000 YEN/ 2,000 SGD/ 2,500 NZD/ 13, 000 ZAR ?

Thanks..

[Dave Blackhurst]

Originally Posted by George Muir

Hello all

While searching the internet for information on video cameras I came across this site. What a wonderful site this is...tons of information.
I have a couple questions I hope some of you experts could answer for me regarding which video camera to buy.

First of all,...let me say,...I'm just an amateur with a video camera doing a little videoing for the radio control airplane flying club I belong to, and I really don't know much about the 'technical' ins and outs of a video camera.

First question is: What camera is best suited for the conditions I video in? I'm here in the desert area of southern California, where the sun shines about 350 days a year,..so lighting conditions will almost always be bright and sunny. Great sound quality isn't a real issue,...as long as it can pick up the sound of an airplane flying by. A shoulder mounted camera is a MUST,...as I need the stability it provides. I'm currently using a hand held Panasonic PV-GS250,....and of course,video of a fast flying-by airplane is quite shaky. I have a 20 year old full size VHS video camera that I can get much smoother video with,....so the shoulder mount is a must. I've tried using a tripod,...but when a jet flies by at close to 200 mph 30 feet away from me, it just doesn't allow the movement I need.
I'm leaning toward AVCHD and tapeless,...but mini DV is not out of the question. As far as focus goes,...I've found that the Auto Focus on this PV-GS250 can not keep focused on a fast flying airplane, ....and manual focus is even worse, ( I'm slower than the camera at focusing)...and the EIS makes little difference on or off..so,..I'm wondering if some of the new cameras are better than others with the Auto Focus and the OIS. If so,..which brands are better than others? At times I've found it best to set to manual focus and focus on something far away, and leave it that way, planes stay in focus that way.

Also,...the LCD is worthless to me,..as the sun is always behind me and shining right on the screen, so a good viewfinder is a plus also.

I've been looking at the Panasonic AG-HMC70,..and wondering if it would handle the conditions I've described. Do I need a higher bitrate than the 13 Mbps this camera has? (Admittedly, I don't even know what a 'bitrate' is,..like I said...amateur).
Are there other cameras in somewhat the same price range (or higher) that are more suited for this kind of videoing?

These videos I make are just for fun,...for posting on our club website......and burning DVD's for the guys....nothing professional,..so not looking for perfection here...just want an improvement over what I have now.

Here is an example video,.....you can see what I'm talking about concerning the focusing and the shaky video. http://cvrcclubvideos.us/BITW2009/BITW_2009_34.wmv

Thanks to anyone who can help me with suggestions

George

Hi George -
Fellow desert rat here... having shot some airshow footage (full size airplanes), you definitely want a Viewfinder... a necessity in bright blue skies... That's going to restrict your choices somewhat if you want to stay with a small camera. Offhand I'd say look at the Sony SR11/SR12, and the Canon and Panasonic equivalents. I use the SR11 myself, pretty happy with it.

For focus you might consider setting on infinity (IIRC most of the small cameras will consider
30-45 feet "infinity", my Sony seems to go to infinity at around 15m in manual mode). The cam sees the featureless blue sky and starts hunting in AF, manual should help.

OIS is always problematic when trying to track a fast moving object. I've got a Sunpak monopod that has a belt clip, had decent results with that, but even better is some sort of shoulder mount add on for the small cam - I've been fiddling with that for a while. PM me if you want to see pix of my current shoulder mount with waist support... getting close to perfection for event work!

Sony's new cameras (XR500/XR520) are supposed to have a "super" OIS that looks quite impressive in samples I've seen - not sure how well they will do tracking a small object on a featureless background, but might be worth waiting to see when they come out. Frankly the side by side samples of the Sony and Canon OIS were night and day - Canon was useless... Sony was pretty good IMO. Panasonic has always had a good reputation for their OIS implementation, so also might be worth the wait for their new models.

You didn't mention a budget, and that could be the kicker, as the small handhelds are at one price point, and most of the "big guns"/shoulder mount type stuff jump significantly in price! As I shoot multicam, I can rig a shoulder mount/stabilization for my "handheld", and have a couple more cameras on tripod or whatever for the same $ as one "big" cam...

Then again, the Panasonic HMC150 looks pretty sweet... AVCHD, decent bitrate, pretty good low light and image quality, getting good reviews.

[Daniel Browning]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Single-chip RGB will usually meet or exceed 3CCD color these days.

3-chip systems use a prism to split light. Prisms do not split light in a way that matches the human eye, and there is no way to modify them to get closer. The result is generally close enough for non-color-critical work.

A color filter, on the other hand, can be tuned to match the human visual system much better. If a certain color is percieved by humans a very precise mix of sensitivities over a certain range of the visual spectrum so that red and green end up with certain values, then the CFA can be tuned to match. Prisms, on the other hand, split color a certain way over the spectrum and there is no way to tune them to adjust the "levels" for certain frequencies and mixing between color channels.

[Mark Signor]

Im a newbie to the videography world, I currently have a consumer grade handycam that I love to make videos with.
Im looking to upgrade, I have a budget of about $1500 give or take. I shoot a lot of low light situations and night time stuff so low light capability is very important to me. I also shoot a lot of bright outdoor stuff like Atv XC racing.

I have been doing some researching the past couple days but im pretty lost on what camera would fit my needs the best. Not sure if I should go Sd or Hd either. Im not brand loyal to any particular name. I have been looking a an hv40 with a bunch of accessories though.

What do you guys suggest for a camera? Thanks in advance

[Tom Hardwick]

Mark - the Canon HV40 (and it's forefathers before it) have generated a brand loyality not seen since the TRV900 days in the 1990s. Cameras don't get this adoration simply because they look nice, and the little Canon has proved itself out there in the big wide world.

It's startlingly cheap for the performance, can be manually controlled, is light, compact and able to be taken where its bigger brother the XH-A1 couldn't. It has a big CMOS chip, you can shoot in SD or HD and owners sure love it.

I wouldn't go SD if I were you - simply for the fact that SD is only 4:3 (though cameras like the PDX10 went some way towards filling a 16:9 screen properly).

The only catch is the low light performance, but you've got to spend $$$ to gain just a stop or two. If $1500 is your limit I'd go for the HV30 and a wide-converter and spend carefully on a decent mic and tripod, a little LED light for the interviews and a bag to keep it all safe.

tom.

[Mark Signor]

Originally Posted by Tom Hardwick

Mark - the Canon HV40 (and it's forefathers before it) have generated a brand loyality not seen since the TRV900 days in the 1990s. Cameras don't get this adoration simply because they look nice, and the little Canon has proved itself out there in the big wide world.

It's startlingly cheap for the performance, can be manually controlled, is light, compact and able to be taken where its bigger brother the XH-A1 couldn't. It has a big CMOS chip, you can shoot in SD or HD and owners sure love it.

I wouldn't go SD if I were you - simply for the fact that SD is only 4:3 (though cameras like the PDX10 went some way towards filling a 16:9 screen properly).

The only catch is the low light performance, but you've got to spend $$$ to gain just a stop or two. If $1500 is your limit I'd go for the HV30 and a wide-converter and spend carefully on a decent mic and tripod, a little LED light for the interviews and a bag to keep it all safe.

tom.

Thank you for reassuring my thoughts! Hv30 with some goodies it is!

[Sanjit Majumdar]

Well I have a Sony FX-1 and it's capable of recording a nice image, but you have to adjust the presets.

I shot my last feature with it so here's the link:
YouTube - g2barmen's Channel