Camera Help!!

Ok, I need a camera for making short films, documentaries, full length films with friends. I need to have all controls manual. This includes focus, white balance,..ect.

I need it to have a mic(so i can attach an external mike..i might need an adapter but i got that covered) and headphone output, as well as a pop out viewfinder. Its needs to be 3CCD and have a LCD screen.
I would prefer a hard drive camera. 40g minimum.

The editing software i will be using is to be determined. So i want to keep my choices open by having the camera be compatible with Final Cut Pro the latest version. Possibly imovie HD. Then for PC i will either be using pinnacle studio 12 or Sony Vegas.

My price budget is preferably under 1000 but at max 1800.

Please give me any and all suggestions! Thanks
 
The JVC GZ-HD7, the first of the JVC HDD cameras is now a little
over a year old and discontinued, but I’ve seen these on line for
as little as $800. A really nice Fujinon lens makes a huge
difference and full manual controls is important. Three 1/5’ 16:9
progressive scan CCD’s are pretty impressive for a camera in this
price range. It has manual controls, a mic input and an excellent
focus ring which is surprisingly rare on small cameras. It
records directly to a built in 60GB hard drive. The issue here is
the MPEG-2 compression (TOD). It’s not compatible with many NLE’s
so you’ll need to convert the TOD to QuickTime or AVI.

The GZ-HD6 can record 1080/60p through HDMI - pretty impressive.

The GZ-HD40 is a bit of a disappointment. I like that it records
using AVCHD compression which makes it compatible with most NLE’s
but it loses the important focus ring. And it’s so small.

The Panasonic HDC-SD100 uses a 3-CMOS array and records 1920 x
1080 video in the AVCHD format to SD and SDHC memory cards. I
like the ring on the lens that controls zoom, focus, white
balance, shutter speed, and iris and it actually has a viewfinder
in addition to the LCD screen. Very important it has both a mic
and headphone jack. I found it difficult to handle with all the
cables attached (mic, headphones and monitor) but it’s a camera
with all the basics.

The Panasonic HDC-HS300 is a fine camera. I got to use it in
January for a little test run shooting some behind the scenes
footage for a model shoot in Las Vegas. I likes the focus ring -
a great improvement over similar cameras. But I didn’t like the
touch screen controls. On the plus side it has the essentials -
headphone and mic jacks and manual control over all the basics. I
like that it uses the AVCHD format. There is a nice toggle switch
at the front of the lens for switching between the zoom and the
focus. It took just a few tries for me to master it.

Close is the Canon HV20. It’s an excellent camera. It records in
HDV (1080i) and 24p (60i), has a mic input and manual controls of
white balance and focus but it uses one 1/2.7” CMOS sensor rather
than 3 CCD’s. My only reservation is it’s so small the handling
is difficult.

The HV30 adds a 30f (Canon’s “frame mode”) in addition to 24p.


The Sony HDR-SR12 has a mic input and a good sized 120GB HDD. It
uses a 1/3” CMOS chip and like the Canon is really small. Because
of the input placement, the mic cable kept getting in my way. The
HR9 (which records to tape) is also a nice, very small, camera
with the essentials. Again the mic input is just below the lens
which is rather poor placement, in my opinion.

Pushing the price cap is the Sony HD1000U. It’s $1,400 and has all
the essentials. The touch screen is too unusual for me - I’m old
school - but it works quite well. I like that it’s a shoulder
mount camera. It only uses one CMOS Sensor, but the image was
very nice.
 
The new Canon HV40 about to come out has 24P with 3:2 pulldown as well as a 30P and the 24CineFrame mode from the more expensive options.

You can pick up an HV20/30/40 for well under a $1,000 and have plenty of room for the accompaniments like a 35mm lens adapter and some nice bells and whistles.

Most of the other options listed are of equal value. Basically anything under $3,000 is almost equal in most regards.
 
I've not yet bought one, but seriously considering buying a Canon Vixia HV40. It's a High Def MiniDV (the best format going at the moment, so the word on the wire says) camcorder, with this 24p film effect... I don't know much about this, but apparently it leaves the footage looking like you took the old 35mm panovision camera out and rolled some film. US prices state around $1000, but I'm sure you can find it cheaper on Ebay, Amazon... or anywhere else. The price in Australia is around $1300 bucks off the website, and it's got mic/in and headphone/out.

*EDIT* Heres a reliable review which sold it to me: http://www.cdfreaks.com/hardware/product/87293-Canon-HV40.html (wrong link in first post)

If you want to find something cheaper, go with the older model HV30, or older still... the HV20. HD is the way to go, but thats purely your choice.

Hope it helped.
 
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HD miniDV the best format?

Wtf...

It's better quality than Flash Memory or HDD cameras produce, and they're not "compressed" so much.

Of course, I implore you to prove me otherwise. Not that I'm a miniDV fanboy, I've never worked with the format in my life, but the HDD and flash cameras I've worked with in the past never produced ANYTHING as crisp and clear as MiniDV.
 
HV40 still uses tape. Once you go to HDD or SD card you will never go back.

Capturing footage sucks.

The difference between the canon HV tape based cameras and the flash/HD based cameras is less than the average person can detect. If you do any type of color correction, then its all the same anyway.

I have an HV20 and a HF200. I would buy the HF200 again any day.
 
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