Camera help

[mutanthalibut]

............"hardly worth blowing a budget then no money for being blown from Adult work with POV.. just end up with a self abuse video" ....

............Ha Ha, love it!!!

Thanks for all the advice guys. The HC-V500EB for ?225 is a great buy, however I don't mind spending a bit more for better indoor quality. My current camera cost ?200 a few years ago, and I've shot some good stuff with it, though I can't help thinking the quality could've been better when I watch them back. As you are aware this can be an expensive hobby so as much of my budget to go towards models the better.

Some good advice though, thanks guys.

Steve

[mutanthalibut]

These both look good, what do you think?

[31charlie]

I would keep the camera you have got now and spend the ?500 on some decent second hand lights and a course on how to set up basic lighting.
The best camera will still produce shit results if you light it crap whereas a bog standard camcorder can produce great results if you know how to light your scene . . plus the money is then invested in knowledge that you will use for the rest of your filming career - no matter what camera or technology comes along in the future . . that's just my two penneth worth anyway! !wink!

[sparky]

31charlie wrote:

> I would keep the camera you have got now and spend the ?500 on
> some decent second hand lights and a course on how to set up
> basic lighting.
> The best camera will still produce shit results if you light it
> crap whereas a bog standard camcorder can produce great results
> if you know how to light your scene . . plus the money is then
> invested in knowledge that you will use for the rest of your
> filming career - no matter what camera or technology comes
> along in the future . . that's just my two penneth worth
> anyway! !wink!
>
>

If the OP's existing camcorder was HD or even maybe a top-of-the-range SD one I would agree with you.
However it is a budget model SD one.
Hence I would suggest only spending around half the budget on the camcorder then putting the balance towards lights and learning how to use them.

I have a similar SD Panasonic, the SDR-H101.
While small and light plus has a 80GB hard drive so convenient the image quality is worse than either of my miniDV cameras that are 10+ years old and 4:3 format, setting 16:9 just puts black bars top and bottom so copied to DVD the image effectively becomes 720 x 432.
One is a JVC DVP7 the design of which is a compromise between size and quality. The other is a Panny NV-GX7 with Leica optics. I also have access to a NV-MX8 again with Leica optics and also optical rather than electronic stabilisation. It is better than the GX7 outdoors but the GX7 has a more sensitive sensor so better indoors.

[sparky]

These both look good, what do you think?






Yes both good value.
You are going to be lucky to find a HC-V700 though as no store within 50 miles of me has one.

If you had both side by side I do wonder if you would see much difference even on a good 42" TV/monitor certainly using the auto 'point-and-shoot' settings. Lots of manual options are great if you have the time to set them up and ideally do several takes with different settings but otherwise just bump the camcorder price up.

I totally agree with '31charlie' that lights and knowing how to use them are important. As I said in my reply to his post my choice would be the cheaper camcorder and spend the balance of the budget on lights etc.

Right through this thread we have discussed Panasonic only.
Some research on Canon, JVC and Sony would be worthwhile before parting with your money.

I have never been keen on Sony because for many years they have fitted a chip in their batteries which has been difficult to clone hence extra batteries are expensive.
Traditionally Panasonic had either no chip or a simple one so clone batteries were readily available. However now they fit a clever chip too. Hence not all clones with the correct part code so physically fit will power up more recent models.

I don't know if Canon and/or JVC now have clever chips in their batteries but something to consider.

[mutanthalibut]

I finally took the plunge and after your advice I split my budget.

I've just bought a Panasonic HDC-SD5, it's brand new and boxed for ?225 from a local audio video shop where I know the owner. He tells me it's not the latest spec but it did retail at ?650 (he was having a clear out and it seemed a bargin). He's also said if I'm not happy he'll refund me. Anyway having checked it out on the web I'm a tad concerned about low light performance. I've not had chance to use it yet (only brought it home today).

What do you guys think

Steve