Decent quality DV camera recommendations?

[Phil O'Keefe]

I think I posted this on my forum, but if it's a double post here, I apologise... I looked but didn't see a previous thread from me on the topic here.

 

I need to get a decent quality DV camera. Nothing too outlandish in features or price, but something that has good quality picture and sound... with pics being more important than the sound (did I REALLY just say that!? ) I can interface with outboard mikes and preamps for better sound, so again, the emphasis is on reasonable picture quality at an affordable price. I'll be using it initially for recording an interview with someone, and thereafter for general purpose use around the home and studio.

 

Any and all recommendations and links are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!

[blackpig]

Before we went on holiday this year I invested in an animal called a JVC GF-DR470. It cost around

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

The JVC Camcorders are pretty good, even the ones for $200-300

 

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[MrKnobs]

Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe I think I posted this on my forum, but if it's a double post here, I apologise... I looked but didn't see a previous thread from me on the topic here. I need to get a decent quality DV camera. Nothing too outlandish in features or price, but something that has good quality picture and sound... with pics being more important than the sound (did I REALLY just say that!? ) I can interface with outboard mikes and preamps for better sound, so again, the emphasis is on reasonable picture quality at an affordable price. I'll be using it initially for recording an interview with someone, and thereafter for general purpose use around the home and studio. Any and all recommendations and links are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!

 

I have Sony DVCs both at home and work. They're cheap and decent, with the exception that there's no external mike input. That works for me because I just sync up the sound afterwards using Premiere, but I know some people like to squirt high quality sound right into the camcorder while it's running.

 

HERE'S a short clip I shot handheld in my control room then later dumped the sound in from a Tascam MX2424 hard disk recorder. Obviously the clip has been massively compressed down to a .wmv file, the orginal full sized AVI file is very high quality.

 

My Sony MiniDV cameras are similar to THIS ONE .

 

Terry D.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Thanks for the suggestions guys - I'll definitely check them out!

 

Any other suggestions?

[Blackbelt1]

Phil,

 

I make my living in live broadcast television production. If the picture quality matters and you can afford something with 3 chips, that's what you want to look for.

 

For just a single chip, consumer grade camera, I wouldn't put too much loyalty into any specific brand. And picture quality isn't going to vary greatly in that quality/price range. If you're keeping the budget tight and looking for a consumer camera, go for the features you need...connectivity, ability to do stills too, available accessories, etc.

 

~Blackbelt

[coyote-1]

At this point in time I would check out HD.

 

Seriously.

 

Really.

 

Prices are dropping, and the critical mass thing is beginning to happen. When a 32" HDTV can be had for $500 US, it won't be long before everyone has one. It won't be long after this that they'll expect HD content...

[FunkyLaptop]

In my experience, JVC has stood for 'Junky Video Camera'. I'm sure they work well for some, but not for me.

 

Coyote speaks the truth. HD cams are affordable, such that it makes no sense to buy a spendy standard-def camera. Editing software has not quite caught up to the latest batch of HD hard disk recording cams, that will change soon. Speaking of hard-disk cams, I would look for an HDV format cam that uses DV tapes. I don't have any of the hard drives I used five years ago. I have loads of DV tapes that old, and they still play.

 

Back to general camera advice. In outdoor scenes with plenty of light, even the cheapo cams can do well. The result of spending more happens indoors, or in low light. Classic example: kid's birthday party, and the lights are dimmed for the cake and candles... The cheap cams give you a grainy mess. The autofocus fails in the darker scene, and the picture goes to a blur every 3 seconds... I could go on.

 

The other thing you pay for is manual control options. Want to tweak focus or exposure? Turn off auto-focus so it won't 'hunt'? Compensate for a backlit subject? Better cams have these choices as dedicated buttons and such, others have them in menus, but at least the choice is there.

 

If you see a direct comparison of single CCD and 3-CCD pictures of the same thing, 3CCD basically owns, even on crummy old NTSC. HD cams are using CMOS sensors from digital cameras now, and these look awesome. I'm sure they will offer 3-CMOS for the gearheads, but I was very impressed with the 1-CMOS HD footage I shot. I worked with the Sony HDR-HC1.

 

After years of shooting in NTSC, even with nice cameras, seeing 1080i on my computer screen blew my mind.

 

I've taken the 1080 footage and down-converted it to NTSC for delivery on a standard DVD. It's the best-looking standard-def you'll see. Later, when the HD-DVD format mess is sorted, the good stuff can go to disc.

 

Apple's iMovie can handle the HDV tape cams, editing is very responsive. Sending a 1080 project to standard-def iDVD is a couple of mouse clicks and a few hour's work for the computer.