Better camera or better equipment?

[CoryP]

Hi everyone, I'm cory. I've been lurking for a while, but finally decided to bite the bullet and sign up. So now that I'm here, I have a question for you all.

I've decided to get one of those spiffy Panasonic 3CCD cameras. Unfortunately, however, I have a budget of around $1000. I've found a GS250 for about $750 and a GS150 for $525-ish. Here's where I need advice:

Should I get the GS150 and use the extra cash on a better mic and tripod, or should I go for the better camera? Are the focus ring and OIS worth $250? Any advice from those with a little more experience would be appreciated, thanks!

[Zensteve]

'sup, good Cory

I don't know enough about the camera choices specifically (though I'm sure others do)... though I would say that having good sound is half the movie. Good images with crappy sound is just plain miserable

Spoiler: Sadly, I speak from experience there.

On the other hand... having a manual focus-ring is pretty good, too.

If it were to come down to a choice, though, of manual-focus vs. money for a good mic... mic wins.

_______

What the heck is OIS, btw?

[CoryP]

What the heck is OIS, btw?

Optical Image Stabilization, as opposed to Electronic Image Stabilization which the GS150 has.

Thanks a lot steve!

[Banned: CootDog]

Well I bought me the GS120 and a kit with filters, lenses and tripod.
However I wish I would have spent the extra cash and bought the GS200 series (at the time I believe it was the 220)

Manual focus is awesome.

BUT you do need good sound... the on cam mic is not an option in any production, in my ears. Get an external mic. The one I used was like $40 but I will be getting a boom mic when ever I get back into filming again.

[scottspears]

Hmmm, tough call. I say save up an extra $100 and go for the GS250. Use the $350 to get a Libec or Sanford and Davis tripod with clawball leveling for $200 and get a cheapie Audio Technica shotgun for around $55. (Sorry I can't remember the model numbers.) The Audio Technica is not a great mic, but I just used it for a shoot with my brother and it definitely is 90% better than using then onboard mic.

And don't forget to get an extra long life (4 hour-ish battery) !!! That's where the extra $100 will go, plus some misc. cables.

Scott

[Thirdrailbe]

Before I got into filmmaking I was a sound engineer. And the one thing that is very important is sound its one half the story.I would invest in some good or excellent sound equipment and an average Camera.

[StevenUK]

I would agree sound is very important. Poor sound is more distracting than rough visuals. The eye can get used to a lot, especially if you're following a good story.

You'll notice that when professionals (with real budgets) deliberately go for a low quality imagery (for whatever reason) the sound quality is 'usually' still good.

Steven

[CoryP]

Thanks for the help guys.

I guess my main issue is that I've heard so much about how much better optical stabilation is than electronic. I think I can live without a focus ring for now, but a shaky image is gonna drive me nuts, especially since the GS150 is so small. Has anyone used both enough to tell whether or not the OIS is worth the purchase?