Good Camcorder

[rep22]

Hello
I too have a question similar to Irustytrombones. I currently have a Panasonic PV-GS12 camcorder, and it simply isnt cutting it for me. I've been doing plenty of research online for good camcorders, and I'm looking to spend up to $1500 on one. I've looked at the Canon GL-2 and the SONY DCR-VX2100. I'm not sure how good they are in comparison to other camcorders. If anyone has one of this camcorders, and could post a clip, or give me a little info on how they like it, I would really appreciate it! Thanks for you time and effort!

Ryan

[BrownCowStudios]

The GL2 and VX2100 are actually above $1500. Canon has a $250 rebate on the GL2 going on until June 30th, puting the camera around $1,750. The VX2100 should run about $2,300.

I've heard great things about the VX2000 and VX2100, though I've only used one for a brief period of time (less than 20 minutes). High quality video, and great low light with large 1/3" CCDs. Optics are the same as in the professional PD170. The PD170, in addition, adds the ability to record DVCAM and has two XLR inputs.

I've used the GL2 extensively, and I must say it's a great camera. However, comparing it to the VX2100 isn't exactly fair since the GL2 has 1/4" chips. The only problem I've had with the camera is the infamous "tape transport" issue. In short, Canon camcorders have terrible video heads. Several owners have had to send theirs in for head alignment. Recently (though I haven't experienced this), several users have had the circuits short out and shut down the camera for two or three seconds while recording. All in all, the GL2 is a great camera when in working order. It has it's flaws, and it appears that it has a more delicate build than Sony or Panasonic cameras.

I'll try to dig up some footage from the GL2 for you.

[jcdenton]

The panasonic NV GS 250 would be nice too, in that price range, IMHO.

[windog]

I have a sony TRV 355E. works great for everything.

[rep22]

Thanks for your input guys, I really appreciate it. It's just that I'm planning on making a large investment on a new camera, and I wanna get my money's worth, not something that I will soon regret. know what I mean?

Anywho, I checked out the sony TRV 355E and the panasonic NV GS 250, and if I were to pick either of those two, I'd go with the panasonic hands down.(3 CCD n such). I'm definitely looking for something more professional grade. Thanks again for you help guys, any other input would be great!

I'll try to dig up some footage from the GL2 for you.

If you could do that, that would be great! Thanks again!

[windog]

yes i could do with getiing a pro camea. too.

[jcdenton]

Why don't you buy a HDV camera then? Soon they are going to be standard and all miniDV Camera will become obsolete, no matter how expensive they where.

With HDV you can downsample the format to NTSC Size in 4:4:4 Format! So you will be able to do decent chroma-keying. But make shure to read about the weaknesses of the Mpeg2 Storage Format of HDV before you buy it.

Uh - you said you want to spend 1500$? I don't think this is a large investment. Probably not enough for something professional. You'll surely get a good 3CCD Camera for it. Canon or Panasonic I'd say. Please note the latest Panasonic cameras use an enhanced noise suppression technic that is better than some more expensive older cameras.

[rep22]

Hmm...I've never considered a HDV camera. In fact I dont know much about them at all. I'll look into those and see what I can find out.

Well, in my case, $1500 IS a large investment, seeing as the largest sum of money I've ever possessed is about $200 lol. I just got a job though, so I'll be gettin lots of money from that.

I guess overall, I just want a camcorder that will give me good results. I just knew that the Professional range cameras would give me the best results, so, I got interested in them.

Thanks again for all your help guys, I appreciate it. No one that I know has any more knowledge about this stuff than I do.

[Raptor]

Why don't you buy a HDV camera then? Soon they are going to be standard and all miniDV Camera will become obsolete, no matter how expensive they where.

With HDV you can downsample the format to NTSC Size in 4:4:4 Format! So you will be able to do decent chroma-keying. But make shure to read about the weaknesses of the Mpeg2 Storage Format of HDV before you buy it.

Uh - you said you want to spend 1500$? I don't think this is a large investment. Probably not enough for something professional. You'll surely get a good 3CCD Camera for it. Canon or Panasonic I'd say. Please note the latest Panasonic cameras use an enhanced noise suppression technic that is better than some more expensive older cameras.

4:4:4???? I don't think so, even pro formats don't do that. Guaranteed low bandwidth MPeg isn't going to transcode or downconvert to those values.
HDV is still 4:1:1 color sampling with 5:1 compression. DVCPRO50-HD uses 4:2:2 sampling ( same as DigiBeta) at 3.3:1 SD or 4:1 HD compression, without using the god awful MPEG encoding. Check out Panny HVX-200 for the particulars.

[bangoker]

Hmm...I've never considered a HDV camera. In fact I dont know much about them at all. I'll look into those and see what I can find out.

Well, in my case, $1500 IS a large investment, seeing as the largest sum of money I've ever possessed is about $200 lol. I just got a job though, so I'll be gettin lots of money from that.

I guess overall, I just want a camcorder that will give me good results. I just knew that the Professional range cameras would give me the best results, so, I got interested in them.

Thanks again for all your help guys, I appreciate it. No one that I know has any more knowledge about this stuff than I do.

pro's can do that.

Sin City was recorded with 4:4:4, but then again, they needed to buy this special set of harddrives that only worked with linux and where like 8 terabytes, and they could only shoot like 2 hours with each of those....