Sony HDR-HC7E or Canon XM2??

[Bob Jovi]

hi,
I have started doing some filming, and after borrowing a friends camcorder for the last few projects I thought it was about time I invested one of my own. After a bit of research I've found 2 potential buys but was wondering if anyone knew any of the pitfalls for either?
The Canon is quite a bit more expensive, but would it be that much better?
thanks

 

[zioxide]

Well the Canon is a 3CCD camera and it is much better quality. HOWEVER, the HC7 is a high-definition camera and the Canon isn't. So you have to decide if you want to shoot in high definition or not.

If you don't care about high definition, the Canon has more manual controls and will be better for shooting in SD.

But if you want HD, the HC7 or a Canon HV20 will be decent. The Canon XH-A1 is the high definition model of the XM1, but it is going to cost even more.

It all depends on how much you want to spend, but basically you have 3 categories of cameras.

The HC7 and HV20 are both consumer HD cameras that cost about $1100 USD.

The XM1 is a prosumer SD camera which will be like $2000.

The XH-A1 is the HD version of the XM1 which is like $3500.