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Camcorder advice anyone?
- Thread starter h0e0h
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jackieonasses
macrumors 6502a
price range??? how in-depth are you going?? i have a couple of choices for you depending on your price.h0e0h said:
using my parents' credit card rewards, I was able to get a Canon Optura 20 recently, and it's a real nice camcorder. I've always been impressed with Canon's DV offerings, so I would look through their lines. I've used ZR series, the first Optura, Optura 20, and the GL1, I've been impressed with them all. AND, editing on a Mac is one of the least stressful things ever, and with FCP, it's a whole lot of fun.
i just bought a panasonic 3ccd pv-gs120 , it was like 700 in best buy but got it for 558 on buydig. it works greta for me so far and it has a leica dicomar lense .
Espnetboy3 said:
Cool. Heard a lot of good things about the consumer level panasonics; with the dvx100, they've made a real play for the camcorder market on the consumer and pro-sumer levels.
I have a Canon ZR70...I am fairly happy with it. It sucks in low light situations.
ESPNnet's camera is a sweet deal with 3ccd's.
give us your price range
ESPNnet's camera is a sweet deal with 3ccd's.
give us your price range
Low Light Issues -
My 2 cents -
In my experience, I've always felt as if Sony is really the standard by which everything else is compared.
The biggest issue I've always had w/ "prosumer" camcorders (especially DV) is low-light performance. With all the new auto gain controls and "pushing" of the video, I find that most single-chip (usually 4k-7k resolution) cameras lack good low-light resolution and focusing. Sony really has an amazing take on it and readily out-performs Canons and JVCs. If you're doing much interior or low-light shooting, consider an HC40, which is a newer model with most of the bells and whistles (audio in, analog-to-digital) while still being under $600.
Also, check out the new JVC "Celebrity" series, which are a couple of hundred of dollars less and are supposedly the first real competitors to Sony's great low-light and focus performance.
The Panasonics, especially the ones with 24p capabilities (VX1000/3000) are amazing, if not pricey.
All of my experience with Canon has shown them to be a little flaky with focusing (especially manual focusing, even on SLRs, like the XL1) and grainy in low-light. Also, they're ergonomically funky, in my opinion.
The thing is, unlike a lot of technology that have "deals" or "sleeper hits", camcorders seem to really be about getting what you pay for. Sony's are most expensive (for prosumer levels), but really do perform fantastically.
cheers,
n.
My 2 cents -
In my experience, I've always felt as if Sony is really the standard by which everything else is compared.
The biggest issue I've always had w/ "prosumer" camcorders (especially DV) is low-light performance. With all the new auto gain controls and "pushing" of the video, I find that most single-chip (usually 4k-7k resolution) cameras lack good low-light resolution and focusing. Sony really has an amazing take on it and readily out-performs Canons and JVCs. If you're doing much interior or low-light shooting, consider an HC40, which is a newer model with most of the bells and whistles (audio in, analog-to-digital) while still being under $600.
Also, check out the new JVC "Celebrity" series, which are a couple of hundred of dollars less and are supposedly the first real competitors to Sony's great low-light and focus performance.
The Panasonics, especially the ones with 24p capabilities (VX1000/3000) are amazing, if not pricey.
All of my experience with Canon has shown them to be a little flaky with focusing (especially manual focusing, even on SLRs, like the XL1) and grainy in low-light. Also, they're ergonomically funky, in my opinion.
The thing is, unlike a lot of technology that have "deals" or "sleeper hits", camcorders seem to really be about getting what you pay for. Sony's are most expensive (for prosumer levels), but really do perform fantastically.
cheers,
n.
jackieonasses
macrumors 6502a
i belive that sony has the best low-end camerasnoahsnyc said:
canon is probably the best prosumer and high-end out there, but that panosonic 24fps is amazing!
