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Need help picking a Camcorder...
- Thread starter rayman2k2
- Start date
Alterscape
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2003
- Messages
- 78
I don't know of anything in that pricerange that shoots 24p. I own a Panny DV953 ($800 when I got it, now discontinued, replaced by GS400) that's 3-CCD (better color response than 1-CCD models) shoots 30p, and can do widescreen, of a sort, but no 24P. It's an awesome little camera for home video stuff, but after having used the nicer cameras my school checks out to film students, it feels a little less than satisfactory to me -- the low-light response is a bit poor, and I miss features like a dedicated dial for controlling the audio level -- you can set the level manually through the menu with the DV953 while in standby/pause, but you can't change it while you're recording..
That said, this stuff only bothers me because I'm a film student, so I'm obsessive about detail, and also because I get to play with the big iron:
I get to use my school's Panny DVX-100As regularly (I have one sitting on the floor right now.. this camera is oh-so-sexy) -- it shoots both 24P and "24P Advanced" with the pulldown to 60i built into the camera so you don't have to worry about your capture settings). It has all manner of user adjustments, focus- and zoom-rings (not just rocker controls) and XLR inputs w/phantom power and manual level adjustments on the side of the camera. The bad news: $3500 new, and too damn expensive to risk buying used, since you don't get a warranty.
Right now is probably not the greatest time to buy a high-end camera anyway, since goodness knows what the HD situation is going to do, format-wise/etc. Panny has their new cam that shoots HD on MiniDV out now, and there're a few others, but they're all still hellishly expensive and solidly in the "semi-pro" bracket..
I personally reccomend the Panasonic GS series -- get the best model you can afford, since they get nicer features as they scale up. You won't be shooting anything pro with these cameras, as I said, but they work well enough for home video stuff. Go 3-CCD if you can -- the improved color representation is worth the extra expense.
You might be able to pick up an older Sony PD-150 or Canon GL1 type camera for somewhere near your pricerange on ebay, which would net you higher-quality all around, but the risk is that there's no warranty and no guarantee that the camera's been treated well at all in the past.
You might want to hop over to www.dvinfo.net/conf and check out the discussions there -- this question pops up at least once or twice a week, if you search you can find LOTS of discussion on various new cameras.
[edit] Just saw your question re: LP recording. It still records at 29.97, but at lower image quality. I don't know exactly where the corners are cut, but since MiniDV tapes only cost $3-$5 for 60 minutes SP in bulk, there's no compelling reason to use LP. Furthermore, since LP is a nonstandard feature, you lose compatibility with some decks and cameras that don't support it, if that's an issue for you..[/edit]
Hope this is helpful
Ryan
[edit] Reformatted, and added some more information. Sorry for the repeated edits![/edit]
That said, this stuff only bothers me because I'm a film student, so I'm obsessive about detail, and also because I get to play with the big iron:
I get to use my school's Panny DVX-100As regularly (I have one sitting on the floor right now.. this camera is oh-so-sexy) -- it shoots both 24P and "24P Advanced" with the pulldown to 60i built into the camera so you don't have to worry about your capture settings). It has all manner of user adjustments, focus- and zoom-rings (not just rocker controls) and XLR inputs w/phantom power and manual level adjustments on the side of the camera. The bad news: $3500 new, and too damn expensive to risk buying used, since you don't get a warranty.
Right now is probably not the greatest time to buy a high-end camera anyway, since goodness knows what the HD situation is going to do, format-wise/etc. Panny has their new cam that shoots HD on MiniDV out now, and there're a few others, but they're all still hellishly expensive and solidly in the "semi-pro" bracket..
I personally reccomend the Panasonic GS series -- get the best model you can afford, since they get nicer features as they scale up. You won't be shooting anything pro with these cameras, as I said, but they work well enough for home video stuff. Go 3-CCD if you can -- the improved color representation is worth the extra expense.
You might be able to pick up an older Sony PD-150 or Canon GL1 type camera for somewhere near your pricerange on ebay, which would net you higher-quality all around, but the risk is that there's no warranty and no guarantee that the camera's been treated well at all in the past.
You might want to hop over to www.dvinfo.net/conf and check out the discussions there -- this question pops up at least once or twice a week, if you search you can find LOTS of discussion on various new cameras.
[edit] Just saw your question re: LP recording. It still records at 29.97, but at lower image quality. I don't know exactly where the corners are cut, but since MiniDV tapes only cost $3-$5 for 60 minutes SP in bulk, there's no compelling reason to use LP. Furthermore, since LP is a nonstandard feature, you lose compatibility with some decks and cameras that don't support it, if that's an issue for you..[/edit]
Hope this is helpful
Ryan
[edit] Reformatted, and added some more information. Sorry for the repeated edits![/edit]
Alterscape
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2003
- Messages
- 78
Honestly, I'd find out about your film school's policy on loaning out equipment before dropping the big bucks on a camera. My school (Cornell U) lets me sign out cameras, mics, lighting gear, etc, for free as long as its for a project that's for a class I'm currently enrolled in. This means I can get an oh-so-beautiful DVX-100A whenever I need it, more or less (granted, that's because there're only four students in the intermediate-level filmmaking class this year, and we have 3 DVX-100As and one PD-150 -- if it were a narrative class there'd probably be about twice that number and I'd have to split camera time 50-50 with somebody else). The downside is that my $800 PV-DV953 hasn't really seen that much use in the past year or so. I've done a couple of independant gigs with it (taping stuff for various clients around campus, which I can't use the film department camera for) and I was always dissapointed with the relative performance. I find myself just putting stuff off until I can get the good camera for it, etc. So long as you're not planning on doing lots of contract work on the side, you might want to save your cash to buy an even better camera after graduation.
It really comes down to how much independant work you want to do, I guess.
One investment I made that I -don't- regret is a 12" powerbook and FinalCut Pro. I was able to get the laptop damaged for a steal, then refurbish it myself (just had to un-bend some stuff that got fubared in the internals when a friend of a friend dropped it, and buy an external DVD burner to replace the nonfunctional internal drive) ..bought a 300gb Lacie external drive and an extra gig of RAM.. runs like a dream with FCP4. If you know that your school is going to be cutting on FCP, get it! Having the ability to work on projects somewhere other than the school-supplied editing stations is a godsend.
Of course, if the schools you're looking at cut on Avid/Premiere/whatever, FCP would not be a good investment, so find that out first!
I hope some of this rambling helps..
BTW, just noticed you're from Anapolis. I'm originally from Frederick.. have you had any luck finding film-related internships down there? I looked around last summer, got nothing aside for a PA gig for a film shooting in Baltimore that required more gas/driving expense (for me, since I'm coming from Fredneck) than it paid..
Ryan
It really comes down to how much independant work you want to do, I guess.
One investment I made that I -don't- regret is a 12" powerbook and FinalCut Pro. I was able to get the laptop damaged for a steal, then refurbish it myself (just had to un-bend some stuff that got fubared in the internals when a friend of a friend dropped it, and buy an external DVD burner to replace the nonfunctional internal drive) ..bought a 300gb Lacie external drive and an extra gig of RAM.. runs like a dream with FCP4. If you know that your school is going to be cutting on FCP, get it! Having the ability to work on projects somewhere other than the school-supplied editing stations is a godsend.
Of course, if the schools you're looking at cut on Avid/Premiere/whatever, FCP would not be a good investment, so find that out first!
I hope some of this rambling helps..
BTW, just noticed you're from Anapolis. I'm originally from Frederick.. have you had any luck finding film-related internships down there? I looked around last summer, got nothing aside for a PA gig for a film shooting in Baltimore that required more gas/driving expense (for me, since I'm coming from Fredneck) than it paid..
Ryan