investing in a camera, looking for info

1. existenjoy
   Member

   

   I have been doing photo for years, and I am interested in getting into videography.  I have been doing a bit of reading, but I live in a place that does not sell anything but low-low-end consumer cameras in stores.  I am finding it very difficult to narrow down the vast amount of information out there to make an informed decision about which camera to invest in.  So, basically my question is this, does anybody know of a good forum that has strong advice about quality of one camera over others, debating the merits of various cameras, discussing the cheapest/lowest level camera that is capable of producing footage that would not be distracting at a film festival, etc.

    I am finding even Sony's and Canon's websites are largely unhelpful.  Are there any websites out there that clearly break down the info and provide comparisons across a brand's line and/or across different brands?

    Finally, I am looking to invest $2000-$4000 in the camera itself.  Any suggestions?  I am looking to do human interest pieces that i would like ultimately to be submitable to film festivals.  So, the video would not need to be 35mm film quality, but it would need to be HD and capable of getting quality images in unpredictable and uncontrollable circumstances.  Do you know of any reliable source for buying used or refurbished cameras that could still serve my purposes?

    Thank you so much for the help!

   Posted 3 years ago #

2. NewBirthProductions
   Member

   

   well this forum is the right place, very shortly you will get tons of advice on what to buy.

   I ask this not to offend you, but do you really need HD?  I ask this because everyone want's HD because it is the furture.  And perhaps it is, but many will agure that it is not the here and now.  SD will still be around for another 5 to 8 years and what do you know, that's about the life of a rig.

   not to mention that you will need a real computer to edit HD, tons of hard drive space, as well as a way to burn bluray.

   and don't forget the lights and mics

   Posted 3 years ago #

3. butterflyguy
   Member

   

    If you do a search for Survivorman , you find that he uses this camera.

   http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/357486-REG/Sony_HVRZ1U_HVR_Z1U_1_3_Inch_3_CCD_HDV.html

   Posted 3 years ago #

4. Aspyrider
   Member

   

    Go ahead and get HD, you will find you need it. :-)

   Posted 3 years ago #

5. EarlC
   Moderator

   

   With MANY HD camcorders offering recording in SD or HD, you do not have to forfeit that soon-to-be outmoded level of production. It is entirely possible that SD will be around for 5-8 years, but my experience with such formats in audio and video (I actually thought I would not live to see DVD overtake and eliminate the need and commercial viability of tape delivery - oops.) leads me to believe that the SD commercial producation viability lifetime is on the short side of NewBirth's optimism (no offense intended).

   With HD camcorder pricing all over the board, offering something in the format of equal or greater value than virtually any SD camera system, and the advent of SD card recording capabilities in the newer models, it is beyond comprehension to spend the same, or more, for a standard definition camcorder, as you would to acquire a high definition unit in any of the currently available models, from MiniDV, to HDD, to SD cards.

   Posted 3 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Supported video provider:

youtube, myvideo, funnyordie, gametrailers, collegehumor, dailymotion, glumbert, liveleak, redtube, googlevideo, sevenload, metacafe, clipfish, vimeo