Whats a good camera for a independent film?

Question

I have a $1,000.00 budget for a camera, I want HD of course. I was thinking of getting a canon hg10 avchd but I read all over the place that it wont work with sony vegas 7. I just bought the program so I don't want to get another one... it is said sony camera's work fine in vegas 7.

Answer 1

you don't need HD.  Everything that has come out that say's its HD really isn't.  If it records to a tape, its not HD.  It's an HD codec that the computer reads and in actuality is much more compressed than an SD MiniDV.  If it records to a hard drive, it's even more compressed so there's much more quality loss.

Also if you don't have proper lighting, HD footage looks like absolute garbage.  Invest instead in a small lighting kit for your projects.  If you learn to use it effectively then your footage on SD would look better than your footage on HD and you can color correct in post.  All you need is a decent SD camera and a decent lighting kit.  Search ebay, they have really great stuff for cheap.  I got about 4500 watts of light and it cost me under $300.