HD Cameras

Event Videographers

HD Cameras

Posted by Edward Neary on July 28, 2009 at 1:30 pm

I own a sony pd 170 and am very happy with it, however, I know that HD is the way to go. Trying to find an HD camera that allows me to shoot HD/SD as well as 16X9 & 4X3. The biggest thing for me is a camera that allows me to shoot in low light without any noise in the footage. I don’t like to stand too close to the subjects and I normally use no more than 10-20 watts on my light. Any suggestions?

Steve Eisen replied 16 years, 9 months ago 5 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Jason Jenkins
July 28, 2009 at 4:14 pm

The Sony EX1 is a great camera. I don’t think it shoots SD, though. You can always downconvert when encoding for DVD.

Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!
Rick Wise
July 28, 2009 at 6:55 pm

There are a few cameras that still shoot both SD and HD. The Canon HV20/30/40 does, but none of those models are terrific in low light. You have to go to a more expensive camera for good low-light handling. Here are a couple of cameras that still shoot both SD and HDV (on tape) and are reported to be very good in low light:

–Sony HDR-FX1000, $3,199
–Sony HVR-Z5u, $4,250 — the prosumer version of the above, with XLR audio inputs

There is also the Canon XH-A1s ($3,400) which is also tape-based and shoots both SD and HDV. I am not certain about its low-light capabilities. It seems to be the successor to the great SD Canon, DVX-100b, which worked well in low light. If you go to B&H’s description/reviews, wedding videographers seems to like it — which strongly suggests it works well in low light.

Otherwise, you could shoot on one of the new Panasonics, or as already suggested the Sony EX1 or 3, and downconvert to SD when needed.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com
Steve Eisen
August 2, 2009 at 2:35 am

Go tapeless. Panasonic HPX-170 SD and HD. If you are used to editing DV, editing with P2 will be a breeze compared to HDV/XDCAM EX. Say goodbye to dropouts.

Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Board of Directors
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group
Beau Brotherton
August 6, 2009 at 11:13 pm

The 170 is an awesome camera. But P2 is an expensive route (I have the HVX).

I would look into the Panasonic HMC150.

Beau Brotherton
Reel Memories Wedding Films
http://www.reelmemories.ws
FCP6, HVX200
Steve Eisen
August 13, 2009 at 4:37 am

The initial investment may be expensive (for some folks) for P2 but the P2 cards will last for a very long time making the cost of P2 relatively inexpensive.

Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Board of Directors
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group

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