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Ideas on a new camera (to work with Vegas 9)
Hi guys,
I want to get a new camera and without being able to test each one, I’m looking at a few within a $3000-$4000 price range that have lots of manual controls, can shoot in progressive scan (important), 24 fps, have xlr inputs, and work well with Sony Vegas (very important). I’d like to go tapeless, but that’s not a priority if I can find a camera with the other features I’m looking for.
I shoot a lot of events and do occasional short films with my Canon Vixia HV30. It’s a great camera and I’ve learned a lot about how to push it as far as it can go. And for a short film I just completed and for one I’m going to shoot, I actually prefer what I can do with it over a more advanced camera, because I’m going for something that looks kind of dirty.
But, I also want something that’s more versatile, with more manual controls and xlr inputs. I do a lot of stuff for the internet and occasionally on DVD.
One is the Canon XH-A1. People seem to rave about it. Crank 2 was shot on it, and the filmmakers liked how they could basically point and shoot with it and do most of the work in camera as opposed to having a bunch of assistant camera men fine tuning the look of a shot.
I’ve looked up test footage on Youtube and it looks great. It can do progressive video and simulate 24fps with what Canon calls 24f. Low light functioning seems to be good, and at least an improvement over my Vixia (which is dreadful in low light and blacks except when in Cinema Mode and spotlight mode). I saw test footage and I’m sold, especially since my Vixia has a 24 fps function that’s not progressive scan and is a pain for footage with lots of movement.
The XH A1 It shoots to minidv, which is convenient to edit in and is in my price range.
Another camera I’m looking at is the Sony HXR-NX5U NXCAM. I’ve only just started researching it, but it looks great, has lots of manual controls, is in my price range (though on the upper limit, especially with the accessories I’d be getting with it). I’d really like to go tapeless and this has a hard drive you can attach which can record 11 hours, which would be great for shooting events where I normally have to bring lots of tape and try to switch while nothing important is happening.
The only downside to me seems to be it’s AVCHD format, which I’ve only read about, but everyone seems to think it takes a ton of processing power and just isn’t worth the trouble. And that’s a big factor for me.
I’m not sure if I even want to consider anything solid state from Panasonic since everything I read about online says that Sony and Panasonic are pretty proprietary about everything, so that would be a pain to edit as well.
Have I left out any other cameras? I’ve looked up a lot but these are the main two that stand out.
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20 Replies
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I have a Panasonic TM700 and built an i7, all for under 2 grand. It edits 1080 60p like butter. You may want to look deeper into AVCHD cameras, and tapeless. And the camera has all the manual settings.
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Thanks, Danny. But what about the issues I’ve heard about with AVCHD being cumbersome and requiring a lot of processing power to deal with? I’d really like to get that Sony NX5 but am wary about what I’ve heard.
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Yes it is. But your getting ready to spend 5 grand on a camera. For about a grand like I said, you can build an i7 that’ll edit and play that 1080 60i AVCHD video that from camera your getting ready to buy, easily. If you didn’t need XLR inputs, I’d try to talk you into looking at the TM700. It shoots 4 different bitrates of 1080 60i but also captures 1080 60p at 28 Mbps. An i7 and Vegas pro 10, both 64 bit can edit and play my 1080 60p, not i .mts files with ease. $5000.00 dollars is alot. If it was me, I’d build a fast computer and buy 3 TM700s and spend less than that. I have a Sony HVR-A1 with XLR, phantom power and I don’t even use it. The video from it doesn’t compair with the TM700 video. Just look at the specs here.
I will gladly send you a sample clip to compair with if you like.
Don’t worry about AVCHD editing being difficult. It’s what’s coming and you may as well get a machine to handle it.
Hope this helps, Danny Hays, Universal Studios FL. -
I’ll counter that AVC/AVCHD claim. It’s well worth the trouble, largely because it’s higher quality than anything you can touch on tape for anywhere near the price.
If your PC isn’t fast enough for it, a new PC isn’t all that pricey… I upgrade an older PC to AMDx6/3.2GHz last fall for about $400. But can also transcode to Cineform ($100) or DNxHD (free) for much more responsive HD editing with virtually no quality loss (and in fact, you may gain for complex, layered edits, because you’re editing in 4:2:2 rather than 4:2:0).
And tapeless is a big win, too. Not just the faster workflow, but the fact that memory doesn’t have to run at a specific speed. So you can shoot different bitrates and resolutions. Real 24p (though I think the HV30 does real 24p, only it has to encode it as 60i to match the tape format… DV/HDV didn’t really take 24p into account when designed), 30p, 60p, 60i, all in the same camera.
I was using Sony and Canon on tape, but switched to Panasonic for digital. They just seemed to have the best technology and the best prices, though certainly Sony and Canon have improved a bit since then (though neither sells a 3-chip camera for under $2K). I have both HMC40 and TM700 units. The HMC40 has an XLR module, kind of the same idea as my Sony HVR-A1, only optional, but very much made for the camera, not a clumsy add-on like a Beachtech unit.
If you really like Canon, they’re kind of doing a modern spin on the HVR-A1/HDR-HC1 pair, in the new AVCHD XA10/Vixia HF G10. These both use the same single chip CMOS sensor as the XF100. I’m personally a bit concerned about a single full raster Bayer sensor with respect to color fringing issues, but apparently Canon think they’ve made the world’s best 1/3″ sensor (you get three if you spend up to the XF300).
-Dave
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And yeah, I concur about the HVR-A1. It was brilliant, 5-6 years ago. I bought the Panny HMC40 after seeing some video from it, and have not had occasion to return to my A1. The TM700 (and the slightly upgraded TM900 — autofocus improvements, mostly) use the same sensors as the HMC40, but my TM700 was less than half the price. Makes a nice walking around camera, or a great B camera when used with the HMC40.
I’m more recently nuts about the video from my Canon 60D as well. But make no mistake – the DSLR is a different kind of video device. I like having one, but most of the time, I wouldn’t choose it if I had to bring only one camcorder. Unless I knew ahead of time I’d be shooting short events in the dark 🙂
-Dave
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Well, AVCHD may work out after all. I should have posted my computer specs. They are:
i7 3.06 Ghz CPU
12 GB DDR3 RAM
Windows 7
AMD Radeon 6800
ESATA ports for connecting internal hard drives in hard drive enclosureWould my computer process AVCHD well? In which case, looks like I may go for the Sony NX5…
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That comp will handle AVCHD fine, although I would upgrade Vegas to Pro 10 as it handles AVCHD better.
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Decisions, decisions.
Thanks for the offer-sure, send me some footage and I’ll test it out.
Thanks again.
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Thanks Dave. I’ll think about that.
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Ok, I know I’m posting a lot, but Danny’s really selling me on the TM700 (along with all the footage I’m seeing online).
How does it handle with 24 fps? Whatever camera I get, I will end up shooting short films with it. And 30 fps?
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