Viewfinder: Time to Upgrade Your Gear

If you're like most Videomaker readers, you like to get the latest and the greatest video gear. It is fun to get new "toys" and learn how to operate new equipment. I love to take advantage of capabilities I've never had before. It is exciting to try out new features and effects of a new editing system or piece of software and to simply experience the increase in image and/or sound quality from a new camcorder or microphone. But for a while, I believe we have all shied away from such splurges. In the past year, according to industry statistics, it appears that many of us delayed our decision to upgrade our video production gear, along with other non-essential purchases.

A year ago, the horrific events in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania had a profound effect on all of us. Material possessions that we previously held so dear suddenly, and rightly, took a back seat to renewed feelings of family, health, freedom and faith. In the wake of the attacks, our economy suffered and consumers held onto their hard-earned dollars a little more tightly.

For many months, all of us were deeply concerned about the future of our world. Clearly, it was appropriate to pay more attention to a possible World War than to worry about our vi…