What High Def Video Camera to Buy
 

What High Def video camera would you guys recommend? Looking for one under $3000.00 Thanks

Under 3 grand huh?

I wouldn't buy one for under 3 grand at this point.

I have a Sony FX1 and although I have seen them online for under 3k, I would not trust any company that offered them at that price. I think I paid 3,200 or 3,300 locally for mine.

we just got the Sony HDRHC1

lovin it so far :thumbsup

it is only $2500 in Canada so its got to be cheapier down there

I wouldn't mind spending a little extra on the camera as long as i know it's a good camera and shoots excellent video. So you would recommed the Sony FX1?

Not only would I recommend it but I researched it for a few months before buying it. Every review by well known companies favored the FX1 over the competition.

we have 2 of them, they're great. good lense, easy to handle, works also good with low light. and no trouble so far.

Thats a nice camera no doubt. Ill be in the market in the next 6 months maybe less. That looks like a canidate.

http://www.sonystyle.com/intershopro...650/HDRFX1.jpg

can anyone direct me to a sample clip online of FX1 output encoded to say 512?

thanks!

Is the HDR-HC1 the predecessor of the HDR-FX1 or is it just a smaller/lighter/cheaper lower end product?

They look better in action. :winkwink:

http://ampcontent.com/pickz/HD/Paint002.jpg
http://ampcontent.com/pickz/HD/Paint006.jpg

i THINK they both came out about the same time, and the hc1 is the less expensive version without as many bells & whistles

i've seen a couple of sites shot with the hc1 and the quality looks good to my eyes, example:


http://www.cravingcarmen.com/carmenpromo.wmv



www.cravingcarmen.com


:thumbsup

and looks like the higher end product might be better if you were shooting raw content for a world market:


http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/sonyhdrfx1/compare.php

We are just about to buy our second one and we absolutely love it. Best value for money professional video camera ever made bar none.

The FX1 is great if you are creating content that will actually be relased on HD DVDs or Blue Ray (in the future).

HD for the web is complete bullshit. I can get better looking SD web video from pro SD cams then using these HDV cams. And I doubt any of you have used these HDV cams as much as I have. Rez is not everything.

Also the low light performance sucks balls compared to the VX2100 so if you are one of the masses who use "full auto mode" then you better make sure you subject is the brightest part of the picture or else the autofocus will not be reliable at all.

FYI, the cheaper Sony HC1 looks like dogshit when compared to the FX1 on a large screen HD monitor. So if you are going the HDV route then stick with the FX1/Z1.

So you're saying I would be better off sticking with my Canon GL2 since I will only be shooting for the web and not doing DVDS or anything like that?

Blue ray... the format that will be the betamax of HD. Microsoft made a choice, and HP followed them (flip flopping away from blue ray) - blueray is NOT their choice.

Insomniac: If your camera is shooting higher quality than you even intend to release stuff in, then yeah, stay where you are. But if you want to maximize potential profits (like reselling stuff later) you want to shoot it in a format that has some hope for the future).

Alex

I never used a GL2 but imagine it gets similar picture quality as the HDV cams after downcoversion to SD.

Like I said, for viewing on the web I think HD is bullshit unless the viewer will be watching the videos on a large screen TV. If you think much of your audience will be watching the videos on their HDTVs in a few years then perhaps you should shoot on HDV. People seem to hate spending all that money on their TV and then watching SD video or 4x3 aspect ratio shows.

Its about 1500 more but if you really want the best the new panasonic HVX200 cam is it.

I second that, if your looking for True HD, nothing compares with the panasonic, but it is quite a bit more expensive

Amusing....

Very very amusing.

I love french toast with eggs...sunnyside up.

Jan the 1st and we already have a funny thread of the year post. :1orglaugh

were gonna launch cherrycaprice with HDV, lookin into formats right now, what are sizes you guys prefer? its shot in 1920x1080... thanks :)

very true hdv is crap, the hvx footage was the first that ruly took my breatrh away I would wait til the hvx200a comes out. Also wait for second and third gen to come. there is no rush as long as they are still advertising dial up service on tv, save your money. also learning how to shoot is more important then what you shoot with. if its crap making it hd crap doesnt make it better lol

http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=40553 go look at amazing footage

There are two sides to this.

If it's made for the internet and .wmv on top of that, an HDV camera is total overkill today. The video that ends up online will never be nearly as good as the source video. The above video may have been shot with a very nice camera, but the end result after encoding is just average. That video could be replicated using a camera costing much, much less.

The internet simply can not yet handle the video capabilities of a high end camera, and considering everything it's going to be a decade before we can stream it.

On the other hand, having great source video now is an insurance that you'll have usable content far down the road after re-encoding by tomorrow's standards.

Imagine if source video that was shot in 1996 for the internet lived up to today's production standards after re-encoding. That material could still be used on quality sites instead of going on megasites and AVS.

"The internet simply can not yet handle the video capabilities of a high end camera, and considering everything it's going to be a decade before we can stream it."



Bull fucking shit.
I give it 6 months to a year.

At present Full HDV downloads are possible at some great bit rates. Its all in bit rate always has been in the bit rate and always will be in the bit rate and alot of you neophytes believe consumers will not wait to download the shit.

YOU ARE DEAD WRONG.

Simple demos.
Alot of you people have the self proclamation on what Internet Audiences construe as worth buying. We aint no High HollyWood Production Media House with 6 figure budgets for a 30 second ad slot, no one in Adult is. We relie on nice parlar tricks with whatever we can get our hands on to entertain.

We use the cheapest methods in Photography and Video to deliver a "Quality" product. At the end of the day it is a "Quality" product.

Simple Sample
http://www.theplayersball.com/cypress2005.wmv

Simple Sample
http://www.ialien.com/kaylabts1.wmv

To some thats awesome, to others is cheap parlar tricks its a matter of perspective and believing you need the absolute best equipment, most state of the art technology is the fucken stupidest shit I ever heard spew from content producers mouths as of late.

iALien entered HDV production with under 5K in expenses. I made the best of my resources on the cheap like a good pornographer should to deliver a quality product.

Thats what Adult is about.

pantera rules ... the sony hdv hd will shoot sd (like a vx2100) as well as hd

:thumbsup

Somebody gets it.
Beta did a better picture was far higher quality.
Porn Industry took to VHS because it got the job done and got the job very well done at a very affordable price. Ask any old Pornographer.

so all these opinions thrown around, and nobody has answered the question on which sony camera


the hc1 or the fx1 ????????


considering, for web movies, and for source video to make dvd from ?

so fucking true.

great hardware is only great hardware---tons of mediocre footage shot by nice hardware---that surfers won't even want to look at, much less pull out a CC for---mostly total shit from so-called "content producers."

and then there's innovation stuff shot with shit cameras, check the video samples on http://burningangel.com/ for example.

creativity will always be number one when it comes to conversion.

then get some glasses. this looks like shit.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but it seems that alot of you are saying that if a person is shooting for the web it doesn't matter what kinda video camrea you use. Is that right? If so, then I really don't need to upgrade from my Canon GL2 to the Sony FX1 for a few more years unless I plan on making HD DVDs correct?

well if you already have a GL2 personally i would not upgrade right this moment.

wait at least a year.

GL2 is a great cam capable of creating better web video than anything we've seen in this thread :)

Your stuff looks like avg sd,Im sorry its not amazing no matter how amazing you think it is in your mind.Its not you, HDV sucks is not HD no matter how many times Doug spotted eagle and sony say it is. Most on the web are still on dial up and thats not going to change in the near future. Also this what about the future , the pros in video not pornographers but guys who work for cable tv say its going to be at least 7 -10 yrs before hd really catches on. Now who is going to use content they shot 10 yrs ago? So that wont matter, wait until at least 2 generations come out.Most say hdv isnt going to last its going to be like hi8 and the sound quality on it is weak and the video experience is 60% sound. Also you want to do quality porn go to school learn how to shoot , learn about exposure its worth more then having the next new thing.

and i forgot to mention canon has a better IMO tapeless capture system than standard firewire:

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/con...rder_accessory

FX1


Mark my words

But you have missed the point of what the people that really use this camera is. Even if it is six mnths or a year down the road, having that HD contnet on hand is going to be priceless. Get the FX1 I really beleive that once teh online tech, picks up with the cameras tech, the price of these HD cameras are going to go up I would think. 3k - 3.5k for a caera of this quality is a great deal.

one more time hdv is not hd the only true hdcam is the hvx200 the rest are toys.also technology gets cheaper over time not more expensive , my vx2000 cost 2500 new mike souths vx1000 cost 5000 new

I understand tony and we all now know how much smarter you are then the rest of us. However, I think you are wrong on the tech issue, in the case anyways. While it might hold true for most tech items, i think as the demand for HDV or whatever you want to call it grows and people capiblities to use it to its full potential grows, so will the prices. Not long term price hikes, but they will increase.

sony has already dropped their price very few are impressed with hdv. there is good chance cable wont accept it because its a buggy format,with poor sound quality.im not smarter i just hang out in mainstream more than most and my friend is a producer/videographer for the speed channel.The only people excited about hdv are the people selling it and pornographers.if it was hot sony wouldnt already do a price drop. Go on creative cow there is always someone selling their hdv camera.

also I have been to two hdv seminars and I was not impressed by what I saw on the big hd screen they had. Go look at the hvx200 footage that I posted the links for thats truly amazingshit.

can you do 16:9 widescreen with a "regular" vx2100, or can only HD cameras do that ?

you can do it with the canon xl2 which is a sd camera . why do you need widescreen if your shooting for the net. wait til the next gens come out , all the kinks will be worked out then if you dont want to wait go with the hvx200. The truth is if your footage is hot it could be shot on a vhs camera people will want to jack off to it . Whats happening and how its shot is more important what it s shot with.

because i have 2 objectives for video:

1. increase my video quality on my site (right now i shoot with a crappy $400 sony consumer cam, 1ccd...the color is horrible)

2. i want to begin producing & selling dvd, and i want very good quality when viewed on a large tv (dlp/plasma etc), and i'd like to be able to view it in widescreen


video isn't my specialty, but i know what i want...just not 100% sure how to get it :)


advice ?

first take classes before buying a camera videomaker mag has great one day seminars all over the country. high quality comes from the videographer not the camera

blah blah blah, i asked a simple fucking question

:321GFY

lol then dont say you want high quality and waste my time

im a photographer, i know all about "it's not about the equipment..."


you assumed that im only shooting for the web so i dont need a quality cam, and i told you i'm shooting to make dvd's and i do

now, vx2100, hc1, or fx1 ?

:upsidedow