Prosumer Camcorders

I, too, am looking for my first prosumer camera (up from my consumer HV100), so what I say is based on what I've read and not personal experience...

Based on your price range, you are probably looking more for a consumer camera than a prosumer. Prosumer cameras generally start at about $3K street price, and there are not many cameras in the $1K-$3K range (though there are some). You may want to wait to see how the Panasonic GH1 looks when it comes out this summer before making a final decision. You will want to give the Canon HV30 a hard look before buying anything else, even though its under $1K.

Good luck,
Chris

 

The Panasonic AG - DVX 100 can be had on eBay for around 1000$ (the NTSC model).

It records SD but progressive.

A prosumer camcorder which records in HD costs more than 2K.

 

Bigger CCD/CMOS sensor, better manual control (focus, iris, zoom), more professional settings, XLR audio input, synching (connecting two or more cameras and have them the same timecode for better multicam editing), better lens (sometimes interchangeable) and in light of recent digital recording (to an HDD or flash card) better "lossless" compression, .... .
And bigger. It's easier to handle a bigger camera that can be comfortably steered with two hands, than a small camera, that just fits into a baby's hand.

Sony Prosumer Camcorders: http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowProductCategory.action?site=biz_en_GB&category=Camcorders

Canon Consumer Camcorders: http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Camcorders/High_Definition_HD/index.asp

Canon Prosumer Camcorders:
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Camcorders/High_Definition_HD/XH_G1s/index.asp
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Camcorders/High_Definition_HD/XL_H1S/index.asp