Directorik (or anyone), what is the minimum price range and an example or two of cameras that are not all the same. Ones that you would recommend. For someone who has a limited budget, but wants to get something more than the one size fits all etc. ?
There are two things that are VERY important when getting a
camera:
Manual controls for the iris, shutter, focus and white balance.
A microphone input.
There are the cameras I’ve taken out for a test drive that come in
under $1,500.
JVC HM400
This is my favorite of the sub $1,200 cameras. The 1/2.3-inch CMOS
is really nice and it has a 1/8-inch mic jack. Unfortunately that
jack is in an awkward place. Like many recent cameras there is no
viewfinder but I also understand that most people just entering
the field don’t really need one. It doesn’t shoot in 24p which to
many is a deal breaker. Like most HDD cameras this records AVCDH
files which can be unwieldy to edit.
Canon HFS11 and HFS10
While this camera has nice manual controls for some reason there
is no independent control of aperture and shutter speed. It has a
1/8-inch mic jack and a nice lens. The single CMOS is quite large
at 1/2.6-inches. It shoots 60i, 24p and 30p.
Canon HG21
I like that this camera can capture to SDHC cards as well as the
HDD. It shoots in Canon’s 24p Cinema Mode as well as 30p. The
1/3.2 inch CMOS seemed to be very nice in the tests I did. The
joystick controls worked well and I adjusted to it quickly.
Panasonic HS300 and TM300
Excellent manual controls, but the touch screen system is awkward
- maybe really cool for beginners, but for more advanced users
this is a strange way to adjust controls. Both the mic input and
headphone jack are poorly placed. But over all an excellent
camera.
Sony XR520
I guess the touch screen is the new thing. I don’t like it. On
this camera there are no direct control of aperture, shutter speed
or gain. I liked where the mic and headphone jack were placed.