Which Pro Videocamera should I get? sony's HVR-V1U, Panasonic HVX-200, or Canon XH A1? I want a pro film look.

Question

I am going to school for digital film major and I want to make my short films, commercials, wedding videos, music video, etc. look very professional and I am definitely going with HD 1080, 24p, (I know Canon XH A1 records in 24f, not sure if that is lower quality) is but i'm not sure which one to get to achieve the quality I want for my videos. I've looked at footage from all of them, but I haven't been able to actually use any of them and I want help with someone who may have used any of the three and tell me how they perform in low lighting, how the quality is over each one, and which one is superior to buy. I am not looking to spend anymore than 5000 and these are my best choices, also including the HVR-Z1U as well if none of the others are better. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I totally agree with Pon. When making a film, the fancyness of the camcorder should be the least of your worries. I agree that lighting and composition is more important. However, I don't think you need to buy a $2,000 light kit. Just get any cheap incandescent light bulbs from Home Depot or something. That's what Hollywood director Robert Rodriguez did on his first feature film, El Mariachi. He bought two, typical household lights and placed them close to his subjects.

Still, its always a real nice luxury to have a fancy camera...they look real cool too. Based on your needs, I would definately go with the Panasonic HVX200 for several reasons:

  1) the HVX200 allows for HDV recording for convenience, as well as the professional grade solid state tapeless format known as P2 cards. The P2 card will give you MUCH better picture quality than on a tape-based camcorder like the XH-A1 and Z1U/ V1U. It's due to less compression in the P2 card than on HDV.

  2) the HVX200 gives you a choice between high resolution 1080 HD and the lower resolution 720 HD....You may be thinking, why would I ever want to use a lower resolution HD format? Well, first, its still very good; many indie films and documentaries are shot in 720. Second, it has its advantages. The first is the obvious: it takes up less memory than 1080 HD. The second is more subtle, but very important for any filmmaker looking for that professional look of celluloid film: the HVX200 has a 60p (60 frames per second Progressive) mode, which is preferred over interlaced by filmmakers. In comparison to the XH-A1, which has NO 720 mode (just a 1080 mode), it can only record in 30 fps Progressive (which blurs more) or 60fps Interlaced only (which doesn't look as nice as progressive....I don't know if I'm making any sense....

3) the HVX200, the HD continuation of the popular camcorder, the DVX100, offers a TRUE 24p mode. The XH-A1, however, doesn't. Instead, it has what Canon calls a 24f mode (as you have mentioned). Supposedly, the two are identical, but I wouldn't know about that.

...the XH-A1 is still an excellent camera. It's one of my favorites, and I'd totally recommend it to wedding videographers, news broadcasters, and any other formal videographers, but it may not be the best choice for the artistic filmmakers on short films or indie films. the V1U and HVX200 would be better suited for that....If I am correct, the Z1U doesn't shoot in 24p.



So, if its in your budget, the HVX200 would be an awesome camera for you...It's arguably the best camera under $10,000....after the Sony PMW-EX1 at least, which compresses even less, and has 1/2" CMOS sensors...but it's considerably more expensive.

Still, don't let anyone tell you different: you don't need to spend thousands to make a good video. As Robert Rodriguez would say, "you got to refuse to spend".... so here are some good options in consumer HD cameras:

1) Canon HV20 or HV30

2) Sony HC3 or HC9

   The only thing I don't like about these cameras is their manual controls.

   Still, you don't need to spend that much even....My advice is to make it cheap, make it dirt cheap. So, I hope that helps, and good luck to you!

Answer 2

if you want it to look professional, learn how to light and compose a shot.  That does more for you than the camera.  

The camera is just a tool.  I've seen fantastic stuff come off a consumer camera from WalMart and I've seen really crappy stuff from the HVX200.

You should rent the cameras since they are all great for different things and instead spend a bit for a light kit.