Digital Video Cameras

[Mr. Anderson]

Ok, I'm in the market for a new camera, prosumer, not the 3 CCD pro models, cause I can't drop over 2k on it. Anyone here have any recommendations.

I be using it in pretty much any situation, indoor, outdoor, lowlight, etc. And I have a Sony MiniDV Deck which I use to transfer video to and from my mac, so I'm not really concerned about editing on the camera. Also, I have a digital still camera, so the still option is not a high priority.

Thanks,

D

 

[menoinjun]

Well, I have the Canon ZR45MC, and I love it. It's a great camera, and has some great features. The ZR50MC has a hotshoe on it if you need that. If you are willing to spend more, then the sony's that take miniDV tapes are great. I find them horribly uncomfortable though, but that's personal preference. They are around $1k-$1.9k.

-Pete

 

[MacAztec]

Sony

I would definately get the Sony TRV-30. It is the same quality video as the Canon GL1, and it takes 1.5 megapixel pictures.

I took this camera to italy, and it is friggin great. Not too big, or too small, has night shot, photos, GREAT resolution, and a 3.5 INCH screen.

Cost? 1600 or less

 

[Mr. Anderson]

I've been looking at the sony a bit. How is the night shot? What does it do? That could be very helpful for certain things, but can you turn it off?

 

[Michael O]

Nightshot

Duke, here's an example of Nightshot from sonystyle.com. There's also a little shot of the Nightshot switch on my SONY TRV330 Digital8 camera.

Also, Nightshot is a neat little "infrared light used to capture images invisible to the human eye." It works pretty well, but you probably won't use it too much, I know I rarely ever use it. Anyway, SONY cameras are awesome, especially in your price range. Check out the DCR-TRV50 or the DCR-TRV27 .

Good luck,
Mike O'Neill

**if that image didn't work, just go to: http://www.dreamwater.org/mgoimg/

 

[Classic]

Canon Optura PI

Canon had a great little miniDV camera called the Optura PI

Check out:

http://www.consumerdvreviews.com/camcorders/canon_opturapi/
http://www.consumerdvreviews.com/camcorders/Canon_OpturaPi/specs.asp

I bought a factory refurbished one from B&H in New York for cheap and have been very impressed with the results.

http://www03.bhphotovideo.com/defau...23___175223___USE___CatID=0___SID=EE5EA3295F0

Key features are Progressive Scan, RGB Primary Color Filter, and Optical Image Stabilizer.

I was quite torn over buying this. I really wanted a Sony TRV 900. The Sony TRV950 had just been announced, but wasn't for sale yet. I needed a camera for a cross country trip. So, after studying long and hard, and finding this model still available for onr $799, it seemed like the best compromise.

Good Luck.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Re: Nightshot

Originally posted by Michael O
Duke, here's an example of Nightshot from sonystyle.com. There's also a little shot of the Nightshot switch on my SONY TRV330 Digital8 camera.

**if that image didn't work, just go to: http://www.dreamwater.org/mgoimg/

None of the images worked, I'd really like to see them. Could you try again?

Thanks

D

 

[Michael O]

Lets try this again

Sorry Duke, the stupid Dreamwater server isn't working correctly! Let me give you a link to a site with the image posted on it...if that still doesn't work, e-mail me at Dirtrider120@aol.com and I'll just send it that way! Try either of the two links below if the picture still didn't load

http://pandrax.com/~ascent/nightshot.html

http://pandrax.com/~ascent/nightshot.jpg

 

[Mr. Anderson]

OOH, that's nice and a little tweaking in FCP and you could easily remove the green, I think that's a silly legacy to the damn night vision googles so people expect things to look that way.

That might have me sold, I'm going to go see what sort of prices I can get.

Thanks.

D

 

[MacAztec]

Originally posted by dukestreet
OOH, that's nice and a little tweaking in FCP and you could easily remove the green, I think that's a silly legacy to the damn night vision googles so people expect things to look that way.

That might have me sold, I'm going to go see what sort of prices I can get.

Thanks.

D

Duke, nightshot is great. When I went to Rome, we visited the catacombs. It was dark, and I couldn't see with the camera. But I turned on nightshot, and it was awesome!

Super Night Shot is for REALLY dark places.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Well, the end of June I've got another Solstice Event and last years shots were only mediocre, so I'll see about getting one cheap, maybe even reconditioned. Thanks for all the advice,

D

 

[Gelfin]

Originally posted by dukestreet
I think that's a silly legacy to the damn night vision googles so people expect things to look that way.

Heh. You do realize that the nv goggles are green for a reason, right? I mean, it's not a fashion statement or anything.

In a typical night vision rig, the photons from a focused beam of ambient light and near-IR radiation are converted to an electron beam. The electron beam can be amplified using battery power (releasing a little spew of additional electrons for each original electron). Those electrons then strike a phosphor screen in a pattern roughly similar to the original light beam. When struck by an electron the phosphor screen releases a photon, which happens to be a green photon. You look at the screen through the eyepiece, and voila, you can see in the dark, and it's all green.

There's also thermal imaging, but that's definitely not what the Sony camcorders would be using. It's a much more complex (and expensive) technology. From using the Sony devices, it seems to me that they came up with a way to overlay the amplified phosphor image very precisely on top of the regular optical image at the CCD. Thus the darker it gets, the greener your image becomes.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by Gelfin

There's also thermal imaging, but that's definitely not what the Sony camcorders would be using. It's a much more complex (and expensive) technology. From using the Sony devices, it seems to me that they came up with a way to overlay the amplified phosphor image very precisely on top of the regular optical image at the CCD. Thus the darker it gets, the greener your image becomes.

Very cool, but you think they'd be using analog system with the digital CCDs? I'd be more inclined to say that the CCDs have a wider range of vision, into the near IR to get the effect. Because the phosphor image has to be projected onto something, or maybe I'm confused about what you're describing.

I do know that at work we have some CCDs that see 100s of channels, IR, visible light and UV, so the technology is there, its just a matter of doing some image processing in the camera. That's my guess.