I am an amateur film maker and am finding it hard to decide which kind of camera to buy?

Question

The people in the shops don't seem to be much help... I know I want a HD, something that has a good amount of recording ... I dont know, can you get new disks for it like you can get new tapes if you run out of space?

My budget is around $1000 - $1600 or so... I can't think of anything else to put down really, if you need more information let me know and I will add it here....

Answer 1

MiniDV tapes will not be outdated anytime soon.  It's a digital recording to a tape in high definition.  Plus, if you want to do anytype of video editing, MiniDV allows you to do so.  HDV is the way to go.

Canon HV20, Sony HDR-HC5 are good choices.

Answer 2

Since that much money cannot buy the ultimate camera, I would buy a Canon HV20. It's HDV (HD on Mini DV tapes). It produces absolutely superb video, and is capable of capturing 24p (looks more like film), and has a CineMode (makes the color look more like film).

After you buy that for around $600-$700 (don't pay more than $700 now), you can spend the rest of your cash on stuff like lighting, a microphone, white balance cards, green screen, etc.

Definitely don't use the onboard mic! Get something. I recommend a lavalier or boom mic for dialogue between characters, or a basic shotgun mic for the surrounding sound.

You probably don't need to worry about lenses and whatnot until later, but just pick up at least one UV filter lens; it's basically just a protective barrier that keeps your built-in camera lens from being damaged. If you're cheap, you can get basic work-lights for lighting (the adjustable kind that can vary between 250w to 500w, but make sure it can do 500w or more).

Answer 3

Tapes will be around as long as they continue to provide superior video quality, ease of storage, ease of transfer/import/export, cheap, flexible and convenient archive capabilites... as compared to any other available storage media. Also keep in mind that external hard drives are available from Firestore - and they store using DV and HDV (same as miniDV tape) and require a camcorder with a firewire connection - most typically miniDV tape.

In your price range:

Canon GL2, HV20, HV30, Sony HDR-HC7 and HC9. You will also want the following:

One or two high capacity rechargeable batteries

Fluid head tripod

Sturdy case (I use Pelican cases)

Wide angle lens

Tele lens

BeachTek XLR adapter (recommend DXA-6VU)

Shotgun mic

1 or 2 wireless clip-on lavaliere mics

DVD based camcorders provide the worst available quality for editing because they compress so much. Hard drive and flash based camcorder don't compress as much - but more than miniDV tape. Best video quality comes from miniDV tape because DV and HDV compress the least.

Take the hint from the pros...

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBus...

http://www.panasonic.com/business/provid...

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contro...

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contro...

http://pro.jvc.com/prof/main.jsp

No internal hard drives (except 1 Panny that is incorrectly categorized as "pro") with MPEG2 or AVCHD, no optical disc storage using VOB files, and the only flash memory are P2 cards from Panasonic - and they store using DV or HDV or DVCAM... Pretty much all miniDV tape.