What's a good, cheap camera?

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Nelsito
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What's a good, cheap camera?

Post by Nelsito »

I just found this site, and I find it very good, so I made an account. I am looking for a camera between 200-400 dollars that works well, nothing amazing, just does what it should.
Thanks.
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Post by kene555 »

I purchased the Panasonic PV-GS39 last year half off for $160. It's mini dv, and is a great camera with plenty of customization as far as shutter speed, exposure, and white balance go. Plenty of options for a small price.

Image

i have also heard good things about Canon's ZR and Elura series. Look into those as well.

Image


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Post by lethelgirth87 »

I have a both a canon ZR60 and an ELURA 100. The ZR60 is the best camera ever but the elura has a really crappy design. I would definitely go with the ZR series.
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Post by tecmeister »

I have the sony handycam DCR-SR50E. Is my cam any good for making movies?
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Post by kene555 »

The camera looks like its decent, but because it records onto a harddrive (right?) the quality will be lower than if you had a miniDV camera.
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Post by Knightly »

Check out the Sanyo Exacti (more expensive), aiptek's GO HD (cheaper) or JVC's SD consumer cams...I have an older JVC that I really liked until I bought my XL1s.
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Post by tecmeister »

I did no that. I got my cam for recording me doing parkour, but now me and me mates want to create a movie, from every1's point of view what is a good idea video camera?
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Post by kene555 »

A good video camera is one that creates video.

Whatever is in your price range is fine.

I started making movies with a $180 Hi8 camera, and the quality was fine.

Now I use a $360 MiniDV, and the quality is acceptable.

If you really want a professional camera with good quality, get one with 3 CCDs for great image.
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Post by tecmeister »

Thanks alot mate.
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Post by Raptor »

An interesting article this month in Studio monthly.... Comparing quality of image ( technical ) with quality of the porduction ( script, acting, plot etc. )
The bottom line is that formats don't really matter what does matter is-
Content - if the subject isn't interesting even an IMAX production isn't going to save it.
Audio - Sound isn't picture, but poor audio draws so much of an audiences attention that it doesn't matter what's on screen.
Lighting - Well lit DV looks better than porrly lit HD footage everytime :)
Lens - the format doesn't really matter unless the glass can get the image onto the CCD or CMOS right.

Looking a little beyond, focus, and exposure with proper lighting will work wonders in any format!
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Post by Ornsack »

Raptor wrote:An interesting article this month in Studio monthly.... Comparing quality of image ( technical ) with quality of the porduction ( script, acting, plot etc. )
The bottom line is that formats don't really matter what does matter is-
Content - if the subject isn't interesting even an IMAX production isn't going to save it.
Audio - Sound isn't picture, but poor audio draws so much of an audiences attention that it doesn't matter what's on screen.
Lighting - Well lit DV looks better than porrly lit HD footage everytime :)
Lens - the format doesn't really matter unless the glass can get the image onto the CCD or CMOS right.

Looking a little beyond, focus, and exposure with proper lighting will work wonders in any format!
This is very true! When we entered The Salesman in to a competition it easily looked better than some crappy film shot on a £7000 HDv camera (ours was a 1ccd DV camera cropped to widescreen) because they just didn't know what they were doing with it. I actually thought they shot theirs on a similar camera to ours!

This is shot on a semi-decent DV camera, and it's very close to professional thanks to the lighting and overall production - http://omega35.dastolidigital.com/

I've always said "It's what you do with it that counts" ;)
Last edited by Ornsack on Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by TroubledCobraStudios »

I just recently purchased a Canon ZR-800 and have been quite pleased with it so far. I haven't got into any heavy shooting with it yet but what I have shot has looked pretty good.
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Post by windog »

Sony PD170!! its cheap compared to the £100,000 camera that the big guns (big wallets!) use!!
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Post by maj_barnes »

Here's what I use- amazing, plenty of manual controls, not to mention an actual focus ring ($300+-).
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Post by Zacatac927 »

maj, im still amazed your video's look so much like film, with that cam, me with my 3ccd and i can't match it... even with postcolor correction

http://hs.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1002799630377
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Post by kene555 »

Awww...I've got to log in to see that vid...
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Post by Zacatac927 »

dang it... ok ill try and upload it to youtube
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Post by maj_barnes »

maj, im still amazed your video's look so much like film, with that cam, me with my 3ccd and i can't match it... even with postcolor correction
Alittle extra time in post production never hurt anything. ;)
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Post by Zacatac927 »

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kABlcMDuVXs"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kABlcMDuVXs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

thats with a Panny 3chip
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Post by rhys »

What's a good, cheap camera?
One thats stolen.
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Post by windog »

haha although the moral price you pay is way more than the cost...or is it ;p
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Post by kg9491 »

Refurbdepot.com has a few good ones. They're all refurbished, but I don't see why that's a problem. Good as new, but cheaper.
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