need help buying a cheap pro camera
hey, im looking to buy a cheep pro camera if anyone can give me some advice it would be welcome.
For one i am looking to be able to do white balancing on the camera as many of the places i will be shooting have lowlighting and the light will vary and stuff.
the other thing is i need it to be able to accept a full size dv tape. this is where i am having problems because many of the cameras i have looked at only use mini dv and the most you can get out of the tape is only 60 minutes, 90 if you go with lower quality.
i had the opertunity to use an ikegami last week and it was beautiful. but i have nowhere near enough money for that. i am looking in the price range of 1500-3000.
so far in the prosumer arena i have only seen a canon xl 1s in action. i picked up a review and it looks like quality wise it is being beaten out by new products from jvc and panasonic.
if any one konws of any links for me to go to where i could post this in a more apropriate forum please pm or post it here. thanx for the help in advance.
For one i am looking to be able to do white balancing on the camera as many of the places i will be shooting have lowlighting and the light will vary and stuff.
the other thing is i need it to be able to accept a full size dv tape. this is where i am having problems because many of the cameras i have looked at only use mini dv and the most you can get out of the tape is only 60 minutes, 90 if you go with lower quality.
i had the opertunity to use an ikegami last week and it was beautiful. but i have nowhere near enough money for that. i am looking in the price range of 1500-3000.
so far in the prosumer arena i have only seen a canon xl 1s in action. i picked up a review and it looks like quality wise it is being beaten out by new products from jvc and panasonic.
if any one konws of any links for me to go to where i could post this in a more apropriate forum please pm or post it here. thanx for the help in advance.
Comments
Originally posted by myahmac
the other thing is i need it to be able to accept a full size dv tape. this is where i am having problems because many of the cameras i have looked at only use mini dv and the most you can get out of the tape is only 60 minutes, 90 if you go with lower quality.
Getting "cheap" and "professional" to live happily next to each other when it comes to camcorders is nearly impossible.
"full size dv" is DVCAM, a professional format from Sony. The cheapest camera that uses this format is around $5000. Go with the Canon. It's about as close to professional as you're going to get (anywhere near your price range), and you should hunt down the 80min. MiniDV tapes.
Originally posted by CosmoNut
Getting "cheap" and "professional" to live happily next to each other when it comes to camcorders is nearly impossible.
"full size dv" is DVCAM, a professional format from Sony. The cheapest camera that uses this format is around $5000. Go with the Canon. It's about as close to professional as you're going to get (anywhere near your price range), and you should hunt down the 80min. MiniDV tapes.
Canon XL1s - no question. Until you are spending £4500 and have the equipment to go with DVCAM, the XL1s is a great camera. Manual white balance, good auto controls and lots of accessories and different lenses. You won't get real optical stablisation on anything close to that price. However, the viewfinder is colour, and the standard lens is not very easy to use on manual focus.
Great camera. I use mine to interview bands at festivals and with a little Final Cut Pro, it's broadcast that evening.
the thing is i still dont know how i am going to deal with the time problem. the things i record are sometimes a few hours long and i guess i could do changes in the middle of events but then i would have to guess weather i would have enough tape to finish a scene or cut in the middle of it. oh yeah, im recording step shows, talent shows, football games and etc.
Originally posted by myahmac
well iafter some research and your advise i am begining to agree with you, tho i found some almost in range on ebay.
the thing is i still dont know how i am going to deal with the time problem. the things i record are sometimes a few hours long and i guess i could do changes in the middle of events but then i would have to guess weather i would have enough tape to finish a scene or cut in the middle of it. oh yeah, im recording step shows, talent shows, football games and etc.
The XL1s has a long play feature. For a small loss in quality you get 50% extra record time. Find some 80min tapes and you should be laughing...