really need cam advice

[John Lenihan]

Wow, That sounds like a question that could take an entire book to answer.

I will give you my recommendations, behind which there are many subtopics.

I assume you want a general purpose camera.

1. You definately want to go tapeless. I recommend sd card or similar. Avoid internal hard drive, tape, cd rom recording, those are ancient.

2. You want mp4 compression. This has the following synonyms: h.264, avchd, are the two most popular. The compression of the video comes in a wrapper, like a letter comes in an envelope. Those are minor because most editors know how to open all the different wrappers.

3. You want it to allow remote control of things like zoom. Typically this is called LANC by sony and panasonic.

4. If you are serious, you want xlr audio inputs.

5. Besides that, you can choose Sony, Panasonic, JVC.

6. You should be able to find a high end consumer camera in the under $2000 range. The most important difference is actually the glass lens. The better the lens, the better the picture over a wider range.

John

John Lenihan

LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicamvideoproductions.com

[Matt “zencat999” Warren]

thanx john. those are the things that I have been keeping in mind, especially coming from tape only experience. my old cam was digital but to an 8mm tape streaming a DV sig out thru a firewire mini.
Chip only! is the cry from now on!
I have an underwater cam that is a gopro knock off (intova). 1080p MP4, 45 deg fisheye. not bad but not for movies. ;). although it does have one really good feature. the files it generates are “drag-n-drop” right into iMovie or QT6,7 and X.
that would be nice not to have to transcode.
do you have any specific recommendations on cams? I have been looking at a panasonic ag hmc803cmos 1/4″sensor chip, but I have been warned off of the 1/4″ chips. unfortunately the bigger chips are , sad to say, as far as I have seen, a bit out of my price range.

a little background, I used to run a recording studio and am more versed in pro audio but , like so many in “the pro ent biz” I have also had some vid exp and actually produced some PSA, small uncomm shorts etc.
I have a tascam DR100 and a couple of senhiezer 421s(originals) for sound sysnc in post. thats not a prob.

I know I am asking a lot but I have no other place to go. thanx soooooooo much for the time.
cheers&aloha
matt

look for me on youtube as zencat999

[John Lenihan]

Glad to be of some help.

I have been out of the consumer camera market for some time, so I cannot comment on those.

I have personally stuck with sony when I was in consumer gear, and now that I am in pro gear.

I often see professionals using Panasonic gear. I would recommend one of those two brands.

The other approach is to buy a dslr and shoot videos with it. If you go that route, I would recommend Cannon. But if you are really doing videos, using a dslr camera for videos only works if you are in control of the shots. Not for live events.

john

John Lenihan

LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicamvideoproductions.com

[Matt “zencat999” Warren]

thanx again..understood. pro is a “bit” diff than “pro-sumer”. I feel the same way when people ask me about home stereo stuff ;).
anyway, point taken. I think I will just go with the panasonic or comprable sony, if there is one and …”just get shootin'”.
cheers&aloha and thanx again for your time and advice.
matt “zencat999” warren

look for me on youtube as zencat999

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Matt,

Please take a look at the new Panasonic AC90 camcorder. It has XLR audio, lots of manual control, an excellent stabilizer, nice form factor, etc.

The downside is that it does have small chips. However, the gain can be cranked way up without adding noise, and the chips are of a backlit design. If you’re not a wedding videographer, then perhaps low light sensitivity is not of much concern to you.

I’m not aware of any other sub-$2k camcorder that matches the features of the AC90. No, I don’t own one, but have researched it extensively, reading all the reviews and forum posts in recent months.

I have previously shot several events with the older HMC-40 camera and enjoyed working with it, and the AC90 overcomes many of the shortcomings of that design.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Charles Meadows]

Agree with you Jeff. Seen and heard some very good results with the Panasonic AC90. It’s a pretty impressive package for the money.

“There’s no point in filming if you don’t have fun”
Charles Meadows
Creative Director
Incubate Productions South Africa
http://www.incubatevideo.co.za

[Michael Johnston]

Based on the first post, you’ll still need to shoot SD. Your edit equipment won’t handle HD. However, you can still get an HD camera that shoots SD. If $2k is the limit, I suggest the Panasonic AG-HMC80. Solid camera with pro features like XLR inputs. If you can manage to hold off and save another $800, you’d be doing yourself a big favor by going with the Panasonic AG-HMC150. Best camera on the market under $3k. Good luck.