Hi Jon – and welcome to the

Hi Jon – and welcome to the world of DIY video production!  With a $2500 budget, you can get something that will give you better resolution (and is easier to use) than a 6 year old HVR-Z7U or 11 year old AH1.

First, you want a camera that records to cards, not tape.  You can slip the SD card from a modern camera straight into your computer and import your files straight into CS4.  Clearly, this will make your life a lot easier.

Second, you want a camera with higher resolution than a pre-2010 1080i or HDV camera can give you.  And it would certainly be nice to record to a 50mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 broadcast quality codec.

For all of these reasons, the camera I recommend in your price range is the brand new Sony PXW-X70.  It records to full HD 1080p and is upgradeable to UHD (four times the resolution of HD).  It has professional XLR inputs, a professional SDI output and records to Sony's 10-bit 4:2:2 XAVC codec at 50mbps.

Here is what this camera can do (please watch at 1080p):

You can get one for $2299 at Adorama.

Hope this is helpful!

Bill

Hybrid Camera Revolution