Video Camera advice please

[Ade]

Hey guys, were looking to upgrade our cameras so I just wanted to get a feel about what people are using these days, or what are the best new models on the market.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Adrian x

[nickbaer]

There are HD cameras, still and video, in all price ranges, from $100 to $5,000.

I wrote about one consideration a while back:
http://forums.gaywidewebmasters.com/...l=1#post283534

My Sony and Panasonic still and video HD cameras are in the $800 range, plus accessories. I used both to shoot The British Beef 2012.

I used a predecessor Sony HD camera for the British Beef 2011, Czech Mates, and Polish Lads, that I exported as 720x480 SD.

Only this summer in England did I start doing the 1920x1080p mpeg2 or 1280x720 mpeg4 HD file outputs for AEBN, HotMovies, BadPuppy's DogGone video, and GameLink... I still dumb down to 720x480 SD for the home DVDs I sell. I doubt that I ever will be able to realistically manufacture Blu Ray HD DVDs on the road.

But, going back to the chart in the link above, you will be happier at or above the APS-C CMOS sensor size.

Do price comparisons based on the CMOS size...

[mhorst]

You may want to investigate Canon's XA10 for a professional HD camera or they have a prosumer model VIXIAG10. The XA10 was the replacement for their very successful GL2 that was standard format.

[nickbaer]

What do you use to edit your video and author your DVDs?

I used to use Final Cut Pro, but now slowly getting up to speed with Premiere Pro. I like being able to drag/drop AVCHD files without needing to use a 3rd Party SW like Toast to convert.

I still author my DVDs with DVD Studio Pro, as I have templates and such.

Soon, I will need to edit mobile phone videos into longer compilations. That will be a new learning opportunity. Maybe FCP, FCPX or iMovie will work for that, so my brain can go back to Apple.

[mhorst]

I use Pinnacle Studio but I'm PC not Mac.