The gigantic "which camera should I buy" thread!

[Boyd Ostroff]

I'd agree that the main reason to get a VX-2100 would be for shooting in very dark places. But there is another issue with both of these cameras for shooting films.... do you want to work in 16:9? Neither of these cameras has a true 16:9 mode because their CCD's don't have a high enough pixel count to capture the full 480 vertical lines. I'm not familiar with the TRV18, but I know that some of Sony's less expensive cameras actually have high resolution 16:9 modes.

If you want good 16:9 you might look at the Panasonic GS-400 or the Sony HC-1000 if you're on a tight budget. They can shoot "real" 16:9. And many of the less expensive Canon camcorders can do this as well.

If you want to spend a little more (but still under $2,000) consider the Sony PDX-10 which has high quality 16:9 and other pro features like XLR audio and DVCAM recording. The Sony HC1 might be another one to look at; it shoots HDV but has limited manual controls.

Try browsing through our forums for these various cameras to learn more. None of these cameras will really give you "film look" all by themselves, but there are software solutions to the frame rate issues and of course you need to learn how to properly use any camera to get professional looking results.

[Yegor Sak]

Im starting a project soon, and Im in a need of about 6 cameras, but Im not really sure what would be the best choice. Maybe you guys can suggest something for me.

Its gotta be miniDV (don't need HD)
Very fast set up times
Rugged (will be used on the street/indoors around the clock)
Good nightime shooting quality without any extra lighting equipment
External mic port

As for the budget, I'd prefer to spend under $2000 per camera, but feel free to suggest anything.

Thanks

[James Connors]

external mic port in which flavour? if you need 6 cameras, you could go for 1 PD150/170 and 5 VX2000/2100s... not sure of current pricing stateside, but it'd be a little bit more than your budget.. but they're cracking cameras, and rugged to hell (they're used a lot in iraq for that reason.) pretty much the best in their pricepoint for low light shooting, the PD has XLR inputs, the VXs have standard minijack inputs for microphones, and as fast as flicking the switch and hitting record (bar about a second or two of lag).

Surprisingly small and lightweight for the quality too, 8 hour battery packs are still only about the size of two miniDV tapes (not like the massive packs on larger shoulder based cams).

[Yegor Sak]

The 6 cameras won't all be at the same location, but Im wondering why you suggested 1 PD150 and 5 VX200s. Does it have something that VX doesn't?

[Jeff Toogood]

Originally Posted by Yegor Sak

The 6 cameras won't all be at the same location, but Im wondering why you suggested 1 PD150 and 5 VX200s. Does it have something that VX doesn't?

The PD150/170 has XLR microphone inputs and the VX2000/2100 doesn't. There are some other small differences, but that is the main difference.

[Yegor Sak]

I probably won't need XLR mic anyway, standard mini-jack shotgun mic will do just fine. VX2100 is just a newer version of VX2000 as I udnerstand. Is it worth the extra $900?

What about XL2? I know they are pricy, but how do they go up against VX2100?

[Georg Liigand]

I bought a VX2100 recently and am very satisfied. I also needed a heavy and rugged cam and as I had done a few projects with PD150, I knew that VX2100 is a good choice. Basically I could have also bought a used VX2000, but I wanted brand new and there were no used VX2000 available in my region when I was looking for one.

I think you can't go wrong if buying a VX2100 and if you find a nice 2000, then not a bad choice either. 2100 is indeed an update of 2000 and there are not too many things different. For example, VX2100 has low light rating of 1 lux while 2000 has 2 lux. However, people say that the difference can't be normally noticed - both are awesome in low light. Additionally, 2100 has a built in lens cap, zoom rocker and rec button on the handle, the handle itself is made higher compared to PD150/VX2000, bigger eyecup for viewfinder and the LCD monitor is better in sunlight. The color is also dark grey compared to the silver of 2000 so maybe looks a bit more professional to some.

XL2 is also a very good camera, but I believe it's not as rugged and maybe more suitable for lower-budget movie shooting because of its features. XL2's low light is not as good as VX's, it doesn't have a LCD monitor, but it has great progressive scan mode for film look and changeable lenses.

[Yegor Sak]

Im curious about this XLR connection. Is it really required? I mean what does it have that a mini-jack doesn't (other than the size). Is there a noticable quality difference between mini-jack mics and XLR ones?

Lack of 24P is kind of a drag, but I can live with it. What about GL2, it kinda falls into the same class as VX2100. Nobody mentioned it.

[Georg Liigand]

XLR indeed has some advantages over mini-jack as all the professionals use that type. However, as much as I've worked with different microphones I haven't seen any real difference. I believe that firstly XLR is a lot more reliable, because it's heavy and has a built-in locker mechanism which prevents the plug coming out from the jack by mistake. The main concern for you would be that whether you want to use mini-plug or XLR microphones. If you can accept only miniplug, then your options for good mics will be rather limited.

Don't get us wrong here, you don't need a PD170 or DVX100a simply because of the XLR. You can buy extra XLR adapter for VX or other miniplug cameras and the best known manufacturer of those is www.beachtek.com . I've used the DXA-2S with Panasonic GS400 and it was an amazing accessory, I'll be getting DXA-4 or similar for my VX2100 soon.

GL2 (XM2) is also a good video camera, but most prefer VX2100 over GL2. VX is certainly much more rugged design and heavier. It has two rings instead of one compared to the GL2 and a lot better low light performance (GL2 has 1/4" CCDs while VX have 1/3"). The most important feature the GL2 has over VX is 20x optical zoom - Sonys have 12x. If you need a bit smaller and lighter camera that still produces great video, then this is maybe the one you should go for.

You can find some GL2 vs. VX2100 topics in this forum so feel free to search.

[Yegor Sak]

Interesting. This is more of a guerilla project, so Im thinking XLR setup will be too bulky for very fast deployment and wrap up.

Does VX2100 support live FireWire capture?

[Georg Liigand]

I'm not sure what you mean by live capture. I didn't know it before, but recently I saw somewhere that some cameras have a delay in firewire port, but others send instant signal. If this is what you mean then at least on my system it does have some kind of delay, although very small.

[Yegor Sak]

I dont mind the delay, I just wanted to know if I could capture what I record in real time to a laptop/workstation.

[Georg Liigand]

Yep, ofcourse it has firewire capture possibility to your computer so that you can take the footage from your tape directly to the workstation. It plays back the tape and your capturing software saves the footage to hard drive at the same time.

[Yegor Sak]

Yes, I realize that you can do it from tape, but Im talking about sending it to a computer as its shooting. WIthout any tape at all.
I realize its not a thing to do when you are shooting video, but my circumstances are quite different.

[Georg Liigand]

I see now. Yes, you can have pretty much real-time picture from the camera via firewire if in camera mode.