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is this anygood Canon MV960 Mini DV for what i want to do

That will be suitable for small videos for the web and should be very reliable, my one small criticism is because it is a small cam its quite light and when used on its own can be shakey and the cameramans movements exagerated so you might want to consider a monopod to stabalise it even folded it adds and extra bit of stability.

DBS,
I believe that the MV960 accepts analogue and digital in, allowing you to use a small 'bullet' camera separate to the cam itself. Whilst the quality of a bullet cam will be less than that of the inbuilt ccd, it would open up some very interesting (to say the least) possibilities as far as 'POV' work is concerned.

/bill

I have recorded with this camera and it is a little washed out in very low light situations and teh quality isnt 3ccd broadcast like my other camcorder...but if you wanted to do POV - amatuer look video work that is still crisp and looks ok for web downloads or on a small view play back on web it is excellent I think... play around with the settings - I Havent tried with Lights and a model yet..

thanks for your replies, i dont want the movies to look to amatuer i want them to look half "pro" i dont mind spending up to ?600 for a good camera i gotta be honest there are so many cameras i dont know what to go for, i know it has to be a DV camera and i guess i need 3ccd thats about all i know, my site is www.louise-summers.com its an amatuer teen solo site, but i want the videos to be proper quality im using 2xinterfit 500w lights but with my current HDD camera the videos are dark and im not interested in using them,

so any advice or help would be fantastic thanks for the help so far

Ok - I definately recommend the NEW Panasonic 3ccd miniDV camcorder then.. Have alook at it... Great picture quality and a small unit (looks really good)

Hi DBS,

Well I use both an old Cannon XL1S, miniDV format and also a new JVC MC500 (hard drive format).

I would def recommend the Cannon its dated but great quality. Perhaps a bit of a shoulder work out but hey!? work them delts right!! Plus point as mentioned earlier too is that you have hard copies of everything you shoot!

I would have loved to recommend the newer JVC 3CCD but... and I dont mean to hijack your thread but has anyone else found the phantom noises on the footage!? I have been using it a couple months now and it keeps coming back. Sounds like a kinda mechanical whiring and no doubt its something to do with the the hard drive mechanism?

The JVC is a very user friendly cam and also great quality mpeg2 movies, but I do have to say its been a bit annoying with the added audio! I dont mind it so much myself as all I shoot is very very VERY amatuer content but I wouldnt like to recommend to any serious producer. Also lack of LCD makes it awkward to get the 'angles' we need in the industry.

I wanted to post my thought up as I am interested also in investing in new hardware. I was spying the cams that Tas, Disanto and Don Roobles use... I think the Sony PD-something series? They are my next purchase defo! I love the clear LCD the superb quality and the smallish, manouverable size. Think they are going at around a ?G each but I think they are the dog's so I think a pair of them would be what I would have in an ideal world right now.

Interested to find out more about them tho?

Hope my small piece of un-educated opinion helps or adds to you making a decision?

Keni

I don't know that model so can't really comment.

If you'd like, give me a shout and I'll email you the latest Panasonic audio/visual catalogue that I've just downloaded from the Panasonic UK website. Take a look at the GS-300 and GS-500 (there's also a D300 and D500 that are mini DVD cameras so don't get them mixed up).

As others have said, you'll probably be best to go for the Mini DV (tape) cameras.

Of course, I don't know what they'll be pricewise, I'll leave you to check that out for yourself !laugh!

Myson

Hi DBS

Here it is... Panasonic NVGS500B miniDV E.Cam 3ccd (with 4MP still image capability) Nice!! Real Nice!!

I've got a Panasonic GS280 which I use on outdoor shoots. It's the same as the GS300 except that it doesn't have DV IN. It is a superb little camera and also does very acceptable stills like this:

[img]http://www.rgbhome.com/images/IMGA0048e.jpg[/img]