Camcorder for youth events

[KJdanReuben]

I am looking for a camcorder to film youth events. It needs to be compatible with FCE HD. I was looking at the Canon gl2, but it doesn't film 16:9. At least I didn't see anything that said it did, so someone please inform me if it does. I was also looking at the Sony HDR-FX1. Those have been the only two that I was really interested in, but I would like some imput from people that know more about it than me. I'm fairly new at this. I would be upgrading from a Canon Elura 100. Hi Def is not necessary, but would be nice. Also, size matters so noting over the shoulder. I also don't want one that is fully manual. Thanks for all your input!

EDIT: The GL2 does shoot 16:9. Sorry.

 

[cwright]

I have a GL2 and it's a great camera, but you should know that it doesn't shoot real 16:9. It crops the 4:3 image and then scales that to fill a 16:9 frame. So the actual recorded resolution of it's 16:9 mode is about half that of it's 4:3 mode, and even less than cameras that record true 16:9.

If I recall correctly, the Sony PD-170 is in a similar price range and shoots native 16:9, so you may want to look into that.

 

[JOD8FY]

I'm not sure if you're looking for a professional camera or not, but a great consumer HD camera is the Canon HV20. I bought mine on Amazon.com for $1,000 (I'm not sure how much the GL2 costs, but I'm sure it's around that range). I love my HV20 and the picture quality is stunning. It also has a 24p mode that records 24 frames per second to give the video a more cinematic "film-like" look.

Best,
JOD8FY

 

[KJdanReuben]

Thanks for the replies. I will give both of those cameras a look. Thanks for the info about the GL2. It doesn't have to be professional. I would probably rather a consumer grade with the prof. look and feel.

 

[techie4life]

Panasonic PV-GS320. Great camera. Wonderful video quality once burned to a DVD.

 

[KJdanReuben]

The gs320 looks good, but Apple doesn't say that Final Cut Express HD supports it. Is it supported?

 

[xfoo]

dvc30... great camera

 

[KJdanReuben]

Thanks for all the input. I really like the DVC30! I think that might be the closest along the lines of what I'm looking for.