Camera Selection Help

J

Jake

Picking Out a Camera **HELP**

I'm a Junior in High School, and with my G.P.A and SAT scores I'm pretty well-off academically for college. But the schools I'm most interested in are:

Emerson
SUNY Purchase (B.F.A. Degree)
Ithaca
Drexel
Chapman

And all of these schools, especially Purchase, require a vast amount of outside interest and creativity/ability in the field. I've got the interest, and Film Camps/attended Festivals to show for it, but I've recently been searching for an adequate camera to buy to film some of the scripts and ideas I've written up, (using FinalDraft, I taught myself after reading some professional scripts), because that's really what they're interested in seeing. What I've got so far as a primary choice in regards to camera research (My range being, unfortunately, between $500-800), and the use of this forum, is the:

Panasonic PV-GS500

I'm not filming anything extravagant that requires a crew, so please refrain from criticizing the greatly limited price range, but it's all I can afford what with college on the way and whatnot. I'm posting here to make sure I don't make a bad decision for my first camera and inevitably discourage myself because it'll be the only camera I get for quite a long time (that's why I'm stressing over it).

Some facts that may help you help me:
I use a PC (Dell)
Sony Vegas to edit (just for now, until I'm able to get a Mac and I'm very experienced with Vegas, so that's not an issue)
The price needs to include all accessories needed and whatnot.

I'm mostly interested in the Panasonic PV-GS500 + an Audio-Technica Pro-24CM Stereo Microphone (I've found a price that fits my range and includes both)

So if you guys have any suggestions on a camera in this price range ($500-$800, give or take a $100), or any suggestions at all in the area of what I'm doing as far as college goes, please let me know!

Thanks
j
 
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Because they get 20+ views and no replies, and I thought I'd have better luck posting in this section.

Thanks for your input though bud, really, what an insightful post.
 
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Three things:

1) There are about ten requests for camera info posted on this site every week... and most of us have answered the question about a million times. I've been with this forum for years and almost never even open "can you recommend a camera" threads any longer. I looked at this one, because I was curious as to what Doug's answer might be.

So, what you need to do is a forum search for "what camera should I buy?" and you'll get tons and tons of information.

2) There's also rule on this forum about not submitting the same post more than once... so Doug was right to ask the question.

The regulars on here are mainly hard working freelancers, who help out as much as they can. And trust me, sarcastic back chat, from people who want our help, really doesn't play well here.

Finally -- Listen to want John Bophe was suggesting, read the specifications of the cameras in your budget range looking for audio inputs and whatever else he said. That was good advice.

You might also want to look at buying a used camcorder... because the older generation of Panasonic camcorders all had audio in, and were sweet little cameras. The new versions don't have audio in.

hope you find what you're looking for... and good luck with the college stuff
 
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And you’ll find that most of the answers are from me. I’m rather
passionate about cameras and I test drive a lot of them so my
observations are usually from actual experience. And even more
important, I understand how frustrating all the camera choices can
be, so I’m glad to help out.

I’m going to side with clive on this - not to gang up on you Jake,
but hopefully to help you a little. A sarcastic reply to someone
I admire and who has offered hundreds of helpful posts here
doesn’t sit well with me. I think that’s only human, don’t you? It
doesn’t make me want to help you.

But if you’re willing to take a few minutes and search for all the
camera posts, I think you’ll find them helpful. And maybe tone
down the sarcasm until you’ve been around a while. We’re all up
for some jabs and arguments once we get to know a little
something about each other.
 
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I apologize on behalf of my sarcastic comment, it's just you've got understand that I'm a member on plenty of well-populated forums and if I ask a question on a topic people are supposed to be knowledgeable on, I expect an answer relatively quickly, especially if I see 45+ people viewing the topic. Also, I did search for a similar question/thread and found nothing pertaining to what I asked, because all the other threads were concerning someone with a price range at least double mine..

Sorry again, I'd like to become a liked member here for future film contests and whatnot, so I'll watch what I say.

I did end up going with the GS500, and it's coming tomorrow!
 
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I'm sure that will work well for you, Jake. We have a short memory here, so I wouldn't worry too much about past comments. Speaking as the one to whom you made the comment, I don't know you well enough to take anything you say personally, so frankly, I didn't give it a second thought.

There are at least two reasons why us "knowledgeable people" didn't offer much help. First, I had no problem with your choice and John seemed to think it was Ok. Second, I don't keep up with the wide range of camcorders in the under $2000 range. Speaking strictly for myself, I'm a consultant and a programmer. It's my job to keep up with all sorts of technologies, application programming interfaces, software development tools, etc. In spite of my understanding of the underlying technologies, I can only speak in generalities when talking about consumer cameras because I simply don't have much contact with them.

Doug
 
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Hey, man, if they'll put up with me and my constant barrage of dumbass questions, then I'm sure you'll be just fine.

Glad you made a choice you like.

It does sound like you'll be in pretty good shape with it.
 
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