advice on HD DV cams

thejuicemaster

Hi

I am looking at buying a HD camera with a view to shooting low budget indie films in my spare time, and am becoming snowed under by the amount of choices there are...my mind is frozen only after a few days research. This is what I'm looking for...

2nd hand if possible
3ccd
min res of 500 lines
16:9
24p if possible


budget 1,800 - 2,500

Any help guys cause this is driving me nuts - I'm ready to buy pretty much straight away. Also if anyone knows anyone that may have one to sell tell me..

thanks...

BlitzKrieg

hmm

I picked up this 2nd hand for 3,000:



Which ticks all the points, but that was a very very lucky buy via ebay. That was brand new, there's a second hand one for sale atm on ebay, but i dont know the seller (http://cgi.ebay.ie/JVC-GY-HD100E-720P-HDV-MiniDV-CAMCORDER-PAL-NTSC_W0QQitemZ120249111818QQihZ002QQcategoryZ11724QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#imageAnchor)

which is just over 2500



between 1800 - 2500 though.

Its easy to break it down by company because usually they stick with what they're good at:

Canon: Always make good lenses, pretty top end equipment, but unless your buying their top model you tend to find they shortchange you on options, though i've heard good things about xh a1, despite being the cheaper model it seems to deliver more then usual from Canon.

Sony: They dont tend to have as good lenses, but fantastic chips which usually means if you are stuck filming without much other equipment, a sony camera can usually still deliver a decent image without lights or filters etc. Problems with Sony is that they tend to flood the market with variations, you'll find the same chip set would be in 3-4 of their cameras and the only difference between them would be XLR sound support or body shape etc) So it can be a bit confusing when trying to buy one. The other issue personnally was in the last generation of prosumer cameras Sony delivered the best low light cameras on the market, ssadly it doesnt seem to be the case this time, though that was only from brief experiance with the FX1.

JVC: the hd 100-200 series is pretty awesome, but like the better Canon models it costs a pretty penny more but comes with alot more features, better lense etc. I havnt heard anything about a cheaper jvc model though.

Panasonic: The dark horse at the end of the standard definition, Panasonic Cameras tend to be really really well designed. The DVX1000 was clearly the best prosumer standard definition camera and the HVX2000 is continuing that tradition it seems. problem is unlike the dvx1000 which had both a fantastic set up and a cheapish price, the HVX is more expensive.


I guess at the moment the Canon XH A1 would be a good choice if you can get it that wont break your wallet.

thejuicemaster

thanks a million for the advice great stuff - i studied film in bournemouth arts institute over 10 years ago, and have only just got around to getting my finger out and doing something about the dozens of short film scripts i have...the equipment i was using then is really far out of date!!
I'll let you know how I get on
thanks again

BlitzKrieg

yeah if its going to be mostly drama related material then a Canon camera would be best.

Purely cause of the better lense.

Sony are more suited to filming events and sports (I have a vx2000 for filming sports)

and the JVC and panasonic are a sort of in between