Canon XH-a1 vs Panasonic AG-DVX100B???

Question

I am going to be purchasing one of these two prosumer camcorders and I need advice. I know that in one hand I have HD and the other is not. They are both widescreen ratios. They both have XLRs. Since I will be using the camcorder for Music Videos, Documentaries, and small independent shorts, I need help deciding. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Answer 1

deffinetly go with the dvx-100b. Hd is overratted. Check out this great deal i got.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Panasonic-AG-DVX100B...

Or ebay item #320235391783

Answer 2

Go with the DVX.  SD is just fine and if you want your footage to look good then what you need to do is invest in a good lighting kit.  Lighting is more important than your camera because good SD footage will always look better than mediocre HD footage.

Also none of the prosumer cams out there are true HD, they are an HD codec which is not the same thing.  Unless you shoot on a P2 card with the HVX200.  1080i does not mean better quality because its only 540 lines of resolution at any given time.  If you want a good quality picture, get something that shoots 720p, which has a full 720 lines of resolution on the screen, which I believe the DVX does.

The DVX is great for both Music Videos and Docs as well as shorts.  Panasonic uses great glass for the lenses and has an even overall color temp.  Don't get caught up in the HD hype because nothing is true HD unless you're shooting on an P2 card (big pain in the *** btw).

Just remember, a good lighting kit is better than a good camera.  Your light determines how good your footage will look, not the camera.

Answer 3

Get the A1. Period. The A1 is the same as the DVX except newer, HD, and made by Canon.

I have owned both and have shot both professionally. The DVX100B is older and is SD, whereas the A1 does 1080i HD. No, the DVX does NOT do native widescreen. It has a fake "squeeze mode" to mimic it, but it is not native, as the A1 is, and has much less quality.

The cameras are pretty comparable otherwise. There is no doubt that you should go with the A1 at this point unless there's some reason you need SD. HD is 6x the quality of SD. Yes -- SIX TIMES -- so you'd be throwing an awful lot of quality out the window if you were to get the DVX instead. Get the A1.

Again, I've owned both, and also have samples of videos I've shot with each of them, so let me know if you want to know more.

EDIT: After looking at the other answers, I had to respond because I cannot believe this. HD is not "overrated." It is not a small tiny increase. It is a SIXFOLD increase in quality. I do agree with the last commenter that your lighting is much more important than your camera, but the camera still matters, and the price difference between the DVX and the A1 is so miniscule in comparison to the quality difference that you're just wasting cash if you spend almost as much money for far less quality.