"(short films, music videos, etc. -i'd call him in need of a pro-sumer cam i guess."
That's quite a range, since I'd imagine the camcorder you'd use on a short film would be very different than one for a music video "I also think it'll probably be HD, but they also can shoot on SD, correct?" Many of th newer HD camcorders do not record in SD, HD is the only option. I shot... I'd consider myself pro-sumer I suppose. I shoot videos for business websites, like customer testimonials or how-to videos. I also use the camcorders for family vacations. Because the videos I'm shooting are instructional and informative getting the right audio is just as important as the video. If I had to pick any budget camcorder right now it would be the Sony HDR-SR5: --2007 model so it can be found cheap used --records in HD and SD --better low-light performance than more expensive SR7 due to different CMOS sensor --records in Dolby Digital 5.1 --Active Interface Shoe compatible with Sony Wireless Bluetooth Microphone (very important for me), which not only allows wireless recording audio but the center channel of the 5.1 can be set to the microphone while the other channels can still record, perfect for things like recitals when you want to hear the singer and the audience --One Touch Disc Burning of HD video with regular DVD-R (another important feature): this is one of the very few camcorders that allow for one button recording of full HD video to a regular DVD. You put the HDR-SR5 in it's dock, press a button on the dock, put a blank DVD-R in your PC and 5 minutes later the first ~30 minutes of your HD video is on that DVD and can be played in Blu-Ray players like the Sony PS3. If your video is longer than 30 minutes it will keep asking for additional blank DVDs. Of course if you have a $100+ Blu-Ray recorder and don't mind the $3+ that BD-R cost that will work too, then you'll have ~2.5 hours of video instead, but DVD-R drives are only $20 and blank DVD-Rs are about 20 cents each so forgive me if I'd rather just stick to that, I'd only put the video on DVD-Rs for backup anyway. Now the negatives: --only 40gb means at the highest quality HD you only get 5 hours (although there's a video on how to upgrade it on youtube, 240gb drives are available for $200: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4QyixMDH0I ) --only 15mbps bitrate --only 1990K 1/3" CMOS sensor --only 10x optical zoom --no USB port on camcorder itself, must be put in dock to connect to PC On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 8:56 PM, Adriane <[email protected]> wrote: > > > hello all, > quick background: we have been using sony minidv cams for years. the last > working one was taken for repair 3 times to best buy (under warranty) > because of failure to "save to tape" via CS4. they keep giving it back > saying nothing is wrong, but i think they (the repair place) have no idea > what that means. so we are presented with the option of getting a new camera > for free, but they no longer sell "tape cameras" for 1 thing. the other > thing is our archive collection of all projects is saved on minidv. The > husband was lucky today (he got into a fender bender- not his fault- his car > is paid for, and he walked off with a check. he's not gonna fix it (kinda > minor body damage) so we have around $1000 now to buy a new cam. He has > decided to let them give us the new camera (he was against turning in the > old sony for the above reasons). so- we plan to get the new free one which > will be some kind of cam with hard drive or memory card storage (or both). > i'm sure we don't have a choice on what they'll give us but it'll probably > be ok for the kind of video work he does (short films, music videos, etc. > -i'd call him in need of a pro-sumer cam i guess. I also think it'll > probably be HD, but they also can shoot on SD, correct? > > the real question is: does anyone have a review or recommendation for a > minidv (tape) camera that is: still available for purchase for less than > $1000? (less would be better obviously). i have so far seen info on the SONY > HDR_HC9, and a few panasonics & canons in this price range. anyone have any > favorites in this area? i know minidv cams are getting a bit scarce but > there are still some for sale at amazon, b&h, etc. want to buy very soon- > like next week hopefully. > > thanks as usual! > Adriane > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adobe-Premiere/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adobe-Premiere/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
