[untitledsince89]

I'm ready to get a new camera and really get into film making.
I've been very intersted and involved in some short films already and I want to make the jump to a better camera.
I've been using borrowed camera's for a while, most of them being higher dollar (gl2)
I would like to get something with 3ccd's and adjustable frame per second.
I'll be editing on using the Final Cut Pro studio Package (Final Cut, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, and DVD Studio Pro) I won the final cut package in a film competition over the past summer in Atlanta and haven't been able to get enough use out of it.
I've been looking at camera's over the past 5 months of so, but never made a choice
I was set on a Panasonic GS-500 but my I'm trying to cut back on how much I spend, so now my budget is 500$ or so.
Right now I think I'd like to get the GS-300 or GS-180.

Any suggestions? Any brand, I'd prefer picture quality and manual adjustments over size, and wieght etc.
I dont mind if its last years model or anything, I just want quality, which is hard in this price range
Thanks for the help

Jon

 

[loco-gringo]

BurlyShirley to the service desk please.

 

[untitledsince89]

should this be moved to the tech section?
any help?

 

[Graphics]

should this be moved to the tech section?
any help?
anyone, Bueller, Bueller?

or maybe the SA forum?

 

[BurlyShirley]

Jesus of Nazareth, will it ever stop?

 

[Reactor]

Wow, looks like there are more photo threads than ever. Maybe we should rename the site photomonkey and debate if we should havve a bike lounge.

 

[Graphics]

Wow, looks like there are more photo threads than ever. Maybe we should rename the site photomonkey and debate if we should havve a bike lounge.

BEST POST EVER!!!

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

i blame all this on graphics-colonialism.
she was the tip of the spear.

 

[Graphics]

i blame all this on graphics-colonialism.
she was the tip of the spear.

you monkeys give me FAR too much credit!

 

[robdamanii]

I'm ready to get a new camera and really get into film making.
I've been very intersted and involved in some short films already and I want to make the jump to a better camera.
I've been using borrowed camera's for a while, most of them being higher dollar (gl2)
I would like to get something with 3ccd's and adjustable frame per second.
I'll be editing on using the Final Cut Pro studio Package (Final Cut, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, and DVD Studio Pro) I won the final cut package in a film competition over the past summer in Atlanta and haven't been able to get enough use out of it.
I've been looking at camera's over the past 5 months of so, but never made a choice
I was set on a Panasonic GS-500 but my I'm trying to cut back on how much I spend, so now my budget is 500$ or so.
Right now I think I'd like to get the GS-300 or GS-180.

Any suggestions? Any brand, I'd prefer picture quality and manual adjustments over size, and wieght etc.
I dont mind if its last years model or anything, I just want quality, which is hard in this price range
Thanks for the help

Jon

I went through the same thing not long ago.

My family has used DV tapes, DVD cameras, and old tape cameras. I dislike both DV tape and DVD because of the need to carry extra media with you and the limited recording time (DVD in particular). Because of those, I looked into HDD cameras. Easy downloading to a PC, LOTS of space to record and no sensitive heads or lenses to be damaged.

Looking here are some of the HDD cameras on the market.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=search&Q=

I went with Sony after trying it out. I find they have some of the best camcorders (2 previous were sonys, and were excellent despite the DVD and DV shortcomings above), although the interface is a little odd on some of their models. I ended up with a DCR-SR80, but you can have the DCR-SR40 for under your $500 limit. The one thing I needed that the SR40 didn't have was an A/V input, so if you're looking to add things like lipstick cams, you'll need to consider that.
An interesting feature of the Sonys is that most of their interface is via touch screen technology on the LCD. I wasn't too thrilled with it at first, but the more I use it, I'm more and more happy with it. Not many buttons to get grubbed up or get punched accidentally.

I shied away from the JVCs due to the supposed fragility of the units (they are relatively new units, and don't seem to be as solidly built as the Sony).

Hope that helps you out a little. Just some things to consider though.

 

[renorider40]

my step dad bought a high def sony over the summer and the picture quality is awesome. Used mostly for recreational use.

 

[bubbleboy]

Easy downloading to a PC, LOTS of space to record and no sensitive heads or lenses to be damaged.

How does your video camera capture light if there's no lens? (rhetorical question).

I think the OP is looking at higher end cameras but for the folks considering HDD vs. MiniDV do your homework (camcorderinfo.com is a good resource).

If you compare the quality of the video captured (25mbps for MiniDV vs. 9mbps (max) for HDD), ease of editing (MiniDV vs. MPEG2), long term storage (tapes vs. multiple hard rives) you'll be able to determine what suits your needs the best.

 

[robdamanii]

How does your video camera capture light if there's no lens? (rhetorical question).

I think the OP is looking at higher end cameras but for the folks considering HDD vs. MiniDV do your homework (camcorderinfo.com is a good resource).

If you compare the quality of the video captured (25mbps for MiniDV vs. 9mbps (max) for HDD), ease of editing (MiniDV vs. MPEG2), long term storage (tapes vs. multiple hard rives) you'll be able to determine what suits your needs the best.

Lenses meaning DVD laser lenses.

By and large, the HDD image from the SR80 is certainly sufficient for DVD quality video. And how bad can it be to buy a 300 gig drive to store all your media on? Burn it to DVD and shelve it if you're worried about failure.

I never liked carrying media with me (extra tapes and mini-DVDs take up a fair amount of space requiring a larger bag), so the HDD is a great solution for me. Not saying that's exactly what he wants, but it is what it is.

 

[untitledsince89]

Lenses meaning DVD laser lenses.

By and large, the HDD image from the SR80 is certainly sufficient for DVD quality video. And how bad can it be to buy a 300 gig drive to store all your media on? Burn it to DVD and shelve it if you're worried about failure.

I never liked carrying media with me (extra tapes and mini-DVDs take up a fair amount of space requiring a larger bag), so the HDD is a great solution for me. Not saying that's exactly what he wants, but it is what it is.

Thanks for your help, although dv tapes are on there way out, in terms of video quality, the mini dv camcorders out there just seem to have better specifications in terms of video qualtity. The camera you suggested seemed nice, but lacked some options, no firewire transfer, which when moving a lot of large files, speeds things up quite a bit.
I'm still on the hunt, any suggestions appreciated

 

[robdamanii]

Thanks for your help, although dv tapes are on there way out, in terms of video quality, the mini dv camcorders out there just seem to have better specifications in terms of video qualtity. The camera you suggested seemed nice, but lacked some options, no firewire transfer, which when moving a lot of large files, speeds things up quite a bit.
I'm still on the hunt, any suggestions appreciated

Ahh, didn't know you were looking for firewire. That makes it a little tougher.

 

[Orfen]

Thanks for your help, although dv tapes are on there way out, in terms of video quality, the mini dv camcorders out there just seem to have better specifications in terms of video qualtity. The camera you suggested seemed nice, but lacked some options, no firewire transfer, which when moving a lot of large files, speeds things up quite a bit.
I'm still on the hunt, any suggestions appreciated

I know you probably won't listen to me...but I strongly suggest you look at the Canon Elura 100. For the price, you can't go wrong!

 

[bubbleboy]

Thanks for your help, although dv tapes are on there way out

Why do you think that?

 

[untitledsince89]

Why do you think that?

I'd say there on there way out in terms of consumer use

but for the "prosumer" level there still going strong and a large choice of many people filming, also many people are choosing to record directy onto an external HD for some large video editing work