It's Camcorder Season! (page 2)

Do you consider yourself an enthusiastic hobbyist who sometimes mixes pleasure shooting with paid projects? You're among the lucky ones. Having a hobby like video production can be an expensive one, but being able to make a few dollars once in a while helps offset the costs. Not to mention always needing to justify to other people in your world why you just had to have that huge hard drive array, super-sonic mic, and fully packed light kit with enough power to light the Heavens.

For you, the advanced features are more of a necessity, but you still want to keep your camcorder within a reasonable price, as it might substitute as the family cam all too often. Panasonic offers the lowest priced 3-chip camcorder, the PV-GS65 at $600, although there are only 420,000 pixels per CCD compared to its brother, the PV-GS150 with 740,000 pixels per CCD for $700. Why is that important, you ask? In a nutshell, more pixels=sharper image. The intermediate hobbyist who makes wedding and other videos on the side might not notice a difference, but you will see a difference if you plan to use your camera for anything broadcast-related, or on a large screen.

If you're shopping in this price range, though, there might be many other features that are more important to you. Optical zoom range, for instance, or external microphone input. Most, but not all medium range camcorders allow you to use an external mic. Are you shooting interviews? This might be a feature to watch for. What about iris (or aperture) control? Do you plan to shoot in locations where you won't be using a light, but will have changing natural light conditions? Being able to control the iris might be more important to you than the zoom range. Canon's Optura 50, for $899, has a single CCD, but it's larger at 1/3.4-inch than the standard 1/6-inch 1-chip camcorder, and has external mic capabilities, headphone jack, manual iris and a 10x optical zoom.

If you're a serious videographer, and either make a living or are planning to produce serious movies or documentaries, you'll need to bring out the Big Guns. In last year's Camcorder Roundup, Videomaker told you about several high-end standard-def camcorders released that year. What a difference a year makes. This time around, very few standard-def high-end camcorders crossed our threshold, and we surmise that this is probably because the manufacturers are reserving that price range for HDV camcorders. As we see more serious movies like Super Size Me and Dreamer shot on consumer or prosumer camcorders hit the Indie festivals; we'll be seeing more and more feature-rich camcorders priced under $10,000. Truly, the democracy of the movie making industry is now!

Features to watch for in this high-end group include color correction abilities, 24p, 720p or 1080i, and film-look imaging. The Sony DCR-VX2100, at $3,000, shoots quite well in very low light. The Canon XL2 and JVC's GY-DV5000U, both more than $5,000, have interchangeable lenses and XLR mic inputs. Again, which is better for you? Sorry, we're just the messenger: "It Depends," on your needs, wants and price.

Like the DVD and card cams, you can't compare HDV with regular DV camcorders. Currently, there are less than half a dozen HDV consumer or prosumer camcorders out there in our price range, but the list is growing. Although JVC was the first way back in 2003, Sony, Panasonic and Canon now offer HDV camcorders, and more releases are on the horizon.

Sony's newest HDV camcorder, the HDR-HC1, is the first some folks might consider to be a real consumer HDV camcorder at the unbelievably low price of $2,000. From there, you then have the Panasonic AG-HVX200 priced at $6,000, which at first glance looks to be in the same price range as the other HDV camcorders, but if you add P2 solid state cards necessary to record DVCPRO HD, you're crossing the $10,000 mark (estimated at about $500 per GB).

Knowing that, do you need one? Do you want one? The bigger question should be, what would you do with it if you have one? Yes, the technology is almost there, but are you prepared for all that goes with owning an HDV camcorder? Unlike DV camcorders, you can't fake your way along as you learn the features of these camcorders (at least, not in HD mode). They require a decent knowledge of advanced shooting and lighting techniques. They also require the most up-to-date editing software programs right now. The latest versions of many of the editing software available today can all handle HDV editing (some with upgrades or plug-ins).

So there you have it, what to look for in your skill, needs and price range. After you review our Buyer's Guide, and make your decision, all you'll have to worry about is how to find the time to shoot all of those holiday pageants, gift openings, family gatherings, and sparkling winter festivities and still enjoy the best part of the holidays... the food! Good Luck!

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