video camera recomendations

[maskedman72]

i have been wanting to get a new video camera and i would like to spend $400.

dont know a ton about them so i am wondering if you fellow sluts can help.

right now i have one i bought in 1995 and its a 8mm, but the picture isnt so good on it. not very clear and sharp looking.

first off, what format should i get?, hi8, dv, cd?

i want a nice sharp crisp picture.

i found a hi8 one at best buy that seems loaded for $250 but i dont know if it would be any better than what i have now. i assume that the dv format is the way to go here.

[maskedman72]

i will be using it to record a lot of bands. one thing that sux about video cameras it that they always distort in this applacation.

has anyone came out with a model that has an audio input level adjustment?

it would be great to have a meter on the screen and you can adjust the input level so there is no distortion.

[jayjohnsonit]

Panasonic PV-GS300 is a good cheap 3ccd dv camera. You won't get into decent audio until you spend at least $1000.

Jay

[Jschulze]

If you can spare a couple hundred more you could get a used Sony TRV-900. They have a great picture and gain adjustment for the sound. Have had one for a few years and really like it.

[SpiderM69]

I just bought a Panasonic PV-GS500 (MiniDV), which will set you back a couple hundred more, but is worth it. I bought it for superior picture quaility and dependability. The DVD cameras aren't quite there yet, per the reviews.

Like anything, it comes down to what your priorities are. For picture quality, the 3CCD cameras are probably the best, and MiniDV, altho not state of the art, seems to still be the best quality and most dependable.

Do some research on CNet and camcorderinfo.com

[Bob Olhsson]

I'm not sure the DVD cameras will ever get there because the pro market is beginning to go flash RAM.

[Whitecat]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

I'm not sure the DVD cameras will ever get there because the pro market is beginning to go flash RAM.

That seems to be because the manufacturers want it to, not because pro's want to. Lots of people in the industry are a little terrified of P2 and similar technologies due to the inescapable fact of IT life that is total and complete data loss with no backups.

HD tape formats will be around for a good while yet, although digibeta and DV will be phased out slowly but surely. They shouldn't be using DV for broadcast anyway, it looks like hell and it doesn't cut with digi stuff, but they do anyway, and just as 'kids with an mbox and some [k] plugins' are taking work away from professional studios, so are the assistant producers [and lower!] who are being given DVcam or HDV cameras to film broadcast programme material with, making it harder for good cameramen to find work at fair rates...

(have you figured out what I do for a living yet?)

But I digress.

As far as the original post goes, my advice is to stick to minidv as the tapes are cheap, the quality is good, it's easy to edit and it falls in your price range. HDV would give you a teeny-weeny bit of future-proofing, but the cheapest cams are still well out of your target spend. My favourite cams are the Panasonic 3CCD palmcorders... I had a GS70 for a couple years, picture quality in good light was very nice. Not broadcast-quality by any stretch of the imagination, but decent.

All the GS-series cameras have 1/6" CCDs though, so your low-light performance is going to be pretty much terrible. If you have a gig to shoot and it's important then hire a PD170 for the night and operate it manually.

[tuRnitUpsuM]

JVC make some nice cams in that price range ... just food for thought ...

Cheers

[maskedman72]

thanks guys,


ok, so does hi8 produce better picture quality than my 8mm or are they the same?

does dv produce better picture quality than hi8?

is 8mm totally outdated as a format? (i dont even know if they make 8mm cams anymore, i didnt see any at best buy or circut city)

[NOCCA]

At this point there are some great mini dv cams, some cheep, makeing it not worth it to do anything else at this point. HDV is finiky at best, and Solid state memory is expensive. Plus as stated earlier, DVD will never make it.

My recomendation: linky

Or if you can spring for it a really really nice cam with XLR inputs: linky

[Bob Olhsson]

Originally Posted by terminal3

That seems to be because the manufacturers want it to, not because pro's want to...

Unfortunately at this point the manufacturers seem to be dictating most of what's going on. There's no question a lot of good people aren't very happy about this.