What are the best Pro Video Cameras today under 12K

[Don Greening]

Cross-posted to the Canon, Panasonic and JVC forums.

– Don

[Craig Seeman]

[Don Greening] “Cross-posted to the Canon, Panasonic and JVC forums.

– Don”

Does this mean we should spam the other forums on why the EX is superior?

[Don Greening]

[Craig Seeman] “Does this mean we should spam the other forums on why the EX is superior? “

I guess we could, but…….you and I both know we’re above all that. Aren’t we……

To Mr. Reynolds:

Apple Computer with Final Cut Pro was first out of the gate with XDCAM EX support, beating all other NLE manufacturers by several months. In fact, I had complete software support in place several weeks before the first EX1 was even delivered. So did a lot of other FCP users. This is the answer to your question as to why the others are still playing catch-up. I guess they didn’t think the EX cameras would become popular. It’s not such a big deal now. Just about all NLE’s support the XDCAM EX workflow in some way or another.

– Don

[Craig Seeman]

How about asking each forum why they chose their camera over the others?
You’ll get a biased answer in every forum but at least you’ll learn WHY people made their choices.
Then you’ll get to figure out which is important to YOU because OBVIOUSLY given the forums each camera brand or type is preferred by some people over the others at least to the extent to keep all the aforementioned manufacturers in business.

[Craig Seeman]

[John Reynolds] “Was wondering if any of the pro’s here in this forum care to share what Professional Video camera they use and why they like it?”
We’re all using the Fisher Price PixelVision of course!

[John Reynolds] “And what they would rate from top to bottom the 4 big companies Sony, Canon, JVC and Panasonic in terms of overall quality, reliability and price vs. features worth? “
I prefer Garibaldi’s Pizza but some like Domino’s and other’s like Pizza Hut.
They’re all Pizza but they all target different markets certainly with crossover.

[John Reynolds] “I’m always concerned about which video camera is actually worth it in terms of performance and ability. There is always some sort of drawback to these cameras.”
Key is not to use a hammer for a screwdriver. A Leatherman can cover a lot of ground but some screwdrivers are designed to be good at certain things.

[John Reynolds] “One thing I’m noticing is that on the video card capture features I always see this “The clips are QT.mov format using the XDCAM EX codec and drop right into FCP without any transcoding or rendering”. What gives with this? Why is it like this?”
Because there’s a market for it given the market share FCP has.

[John Reynolds] “I use both PC and MAC and would like to be able to not have to go the extra step in transcoding for Premiere Pro on a PC. Why are they making cameras that do this. More people use PC than a MAC.”
More people drive Toyotas than Caterpillar tractors but I’d bet Caterpillar’s are used more frequently when building office buildings.

Maybe before asking questions like this you should take a basic business class in Market Research.

Do you have a clue what the market shows in Mac OS vs Windows OS in the Post Production environment? Do you have a clue about the availability and compatibility resources for MP4 vs MXF vs MOV or any other wrapper?

[John Reynolds]

Sorry guys if I did anything wrong. Wasn’t meant to be spam. I didn’t consider it to be spam. I just wanted to make sure all 4 related forums got to respond to this with equal time. I couldn’t find the right general forum section with which to get this point across and have the most responses.

[Craig Seeman]

and I’d add that with CalibratedSoftware plugin Macs without FCP and Windows NLEs can also use EX .MOV files.

With CalibratedSoftware FCP can handle EX MP4 that some NLE’s like PremierePro CS4 handles too.

Sony EX records MP4 and one can use plugin or rewrap to MOV
JVC HM EX records to MOV (sans SxS adaptor) and can be used with aforementioned plugin in non FCP systems.

There’s a plethora of stuff for those who need MXF.

[John Reynolds]

Yes…understood. I use the Sony EX1 and love it for the MAC but wish I could use it the same way with my PC in Premiere Pro when switching to that NLE program. Now I’m looking to another Video Camera because I hate the ergonomics of the camera when shooting handheld.

[John Reynolds]

I know it can be done……my point was having to go that extra step on converting the original file that the camera makes before being able to edit in Premiere Pro…Sony Vegas etc.

[Craig Seeman]

[John Reynolds] “Yes…understood. I use the Sony EX1 and love it for the MAC but wish I could use it the same way with my PC in Premiere Pro when switching to that NLE program. “

Huh!!? Premiere Pro CS4 supports MP4 directly on both Mac and Windows.

[John Reynolds] “Now I’m looking to another Video Camera because I hate the ergonomics of the camera when shooting handheld.”
Get EX1 compatible shoulder mount
Get EX3 (and you may still want a shoulder mount)
Get JVC HM 700 (knowing it has pluses and minuses over the EX).

At least you’ve asked two direct questions which can be answered with specific options.