1200-1500 for camera, what are my options?

[DjfunkmasterG]

lol ... just imagine a fight between Randall, that Rings nerd guy, and one of us - all in a fight over which is the best trilogy ... mind you, GAR's is 4 movies long now. But then again ... Star Wars is 6 movies long. There is only one return and it is not of the king or jedi, it is of the LIVING DEAD!

[MinionZombie]

I've just been watching the deleted scenes, I'd love to see a mix of Clerks and zombies, like a zombie version of the Death Star scene from the first film. lol, and I've just noticed this was my 4,337th post.

[Mutineer]

If he wants to make a film and have it look decent he should spend the extra $500 and buy a used DVX100. It's what I use. Why anyone would use another camera (at that price) is a mystery.

[DjfunkmasterG]

bingo. it is a fantastic camera. I am getting an HXV200 because A. it is Hi-Def and B its now 16:9 native. DEADLANDS 2 will be shot with this camera. I was going to do 16mm but screw it I can do the film for about $30,000 with that camera. If I use 16mm you're talking 50-60K minimum to shoot the 116 page script.

[Mister Chrome]

I don't know where you live, but you should see if there are any local public access cable facilities in your area. If there are, see if they offer classes (usually free) to become certified access producers. Once you take their classes, you basically have unlimited access to their equipment to produce programming for the public access channel. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it is a fact - you can check out www.accesschannel.com as an example in the Chicago area, or visit www.openchannel.se to get links to public access facilities all over the world. That said, if the cable access thing isn't available in your area, try your local library. Oftentimes, the library has a video camera that can be used by patrons. Finally, see if the local high school or college has any video equipment and students who would be interested in working on your project. If you write a decent proposal, you might get free equipment AND free students for your crew. I am advising you on all of these things for a single reason: you should learn the CRAFT of video production (not filmmaking, since that is actually incorrect terminology unless you are shooting on FILM) before you buy a camera. Best of all, you should learn video production for FREE before paying for anything. If I can be of any other assistance, feel free to ask. Good luck! M.C.

[Mutineer]

bingo. it is a fantastic camera. I am getting an HXV200 because A. it is Hi-Def and B its now 16:9 native. DEADLANDS 2 will be shot with this camera. I was going to do 16mm but screw it I can do the film for about $30,000 with that camera. If I use 16mm you're talking 50-60K minimum to shoot the 116 page script. Nice ! I recently did a short with a borrowed HVX; beautiful footy !

[Excessium]

Thank you for the advice M.C. I live in Columbus, Ohio atm so I'm sure they have some sort of public access. Robert Rodriguez used public access facilities a lot. He even had full access to the place at off hours. Thanks to everyone for their advice, you guys are great and helpful to the extreme. On Christmas I recieved a $500 gift card from best buy. I going to buy a Panasonic Pv-GS500. I stated earlier that I wasn't ready to shot a feature yet. My plan is to make short movies until I am comfortable with Editing, Shooting, Directing and scoring. ATM I have a short story scripted, and about 5 treatments-all have character background already established. I have been doing some heavy reading about lighting, camera work and sound. It's kinda overwhelming learning the terminology but I'm doing fine. When I get to the point where I'm ready to shot my horror movie, I will have a pretty good understanding of what I will need. I'm pretty excited about my zombie script. My Focus is to make a movie that doesn't depend on "runners" so I could take a short cut when creating tension. I'm trying to be as creative as possible in order to make the slower moving zombie something to be feared again. It's not going to be about making a stand against zombies and killing as many as possible. It's going to be about survival, about saving those things that are dearest to you in a time of hell. I'll post it here once I have it copyrighted-see if I can atract any experienced cinamatographers. Thats about all, have fun and thanks again.

[Wahsleety]

Thank you for the advice M.C. I live in Columbus, Ohio atm so I'm sure they have some sort of public access. Robert Rodriguez used public access facilities a lot. He even had full access to the place at off hours. Thanks to everyone for their advice, you guys are great and helpful to the extreme. On Christmas I recieved a $500 gift card from best buy. I going to buy a Panasonic Pv-GS500. I stated earlier that I wasn't ready to shot a feature yet. My plan is to make short movies until I am comfortable with Editing, Shooting, Directing and scoring. ATM I have a short story scripted, and about 5 treatments-all have character background already established. I have been doing some heavy reading about lighting, camera work and sound. It's kinda overwhelming learning the terminology but I'm doing fine. When I get to the point where I'm ready to shot my horror movie, I will have a pretty good understanding of what I will need. I'm pretty excited about my zombie script. My Focus is to make a movie that doesn't depend on "runners" so I could take a short cut when creating tension. I'm trying to be as creative as possible in order to make the slower moving zombie something to be feared again. It's not going to be about making a stand against zombies and killing as many as possible. It's going to be about survival, about saving those things that are dearest to you in a time of hell. I'll post it here once I have it copyrighted-see if I can atract any experienced cinamatographers. Thats about all, have fun and thanks again. I've had the Pv-GS500 for a few weeks now and i'm quite pleased with the results! It's a good deal.

[Excessium]

Aye, I wanted the 400, but they sell for about 1400 new plus they are discontinued. I've read about a thousand reviews about the GS500 and all seem to agree that it's the premier camera under $1000 camera. And the manual features on it are the best in that range. I'll probably pick up a wide angle lense and some filters right away. I think after all that I will be good to go and start filming my first short. edited for forgetting words...

[TheEnd]

All of those cameras are great and dandy but are not the best choice for that price.... What you want is a Pal HDR-HC1 which is a HDR-HC1E.....why.... 1. This camera shoots 1080i with mpeg 2 compression 2. This camera shoots 50i or 25 fps which means you de interlace in post and post it to a 24P time line, yealding you the 24P you want. 3. Because of the fact it is HD and deinterlace from 1080I you are going to yeald maxium resoltion close to 720P at 24P. 4. This camera being HD is native widescreen which most movie buffs want aka us. 5. throw an anamorphic 16:9 lens on it and adjust for in post and you get cinescope 2.35 to 1 or better. 6. it will yeald the best image qauilty possiable because you can NOT compare 3ccd SD to single CMOS HD. 7. shoting HD no mater the format is a better choice to future proof then choseing SD in the end SD is pretty much blur-o-vision once you see the differnace on a TV, SD or HD. No mater what people say HD down convereted to SD still looks FAR better then the best SD at SD. 95% percent of the time the people who will tell you this have and SD camera. 8. if you got questions for me shoot me an e-mail lucky you i got a treo so i respond fast. reactor88@r88s.com Enjoy. on another note if anyone knows how to get ahold of misterchrome aka bill PLEASE e-mail me. Peace, -Darren

[DjfunkmasterG]

But it is a Sony and unless the letters VX2000, VX2100 or F950 appear after it they're mostly junk. In the high def realm on the lower budget scales you either go Canon XL-h1 or HVX200 from Panasonic. My DP told me a lot of things about most cameras, in what to look for especially regarding image control. Now all I do is read about the features these cameras can do and I watch a lot of test footage from guys on the HI-Def forums.

[TheEnd]

You just listed two SD sonys and the F950 which i think you are talking about the HDW-F950 aka 80G Camera. First off the two sonys you talked about are nice sure but NOT HD. regardless again of everything thats out there in this PRICE range you will find that the HDR-HC1E will get you the best results...unless you WANT, poor image resolution and want video aka 60i. Also none of that post 24P stuff works that good btw...i've tested all of it. I will also say this any HD camera in this price range is going to be the ticket. I say the HC1E because of all the cameras out there it has the most manual controls. The others who cares about manual if it looks like your shooting a home movie. I am in Chicago so if people are wondering..i own this camera you can check it out if you like to see for yourself. Peace, -Darren You just listed two SD sonys and the F950 which i think you are talking about the HDW-F950 aka 80G Camera. First off the two sonys you talked about are nice sure but NOT HD. regardless again of everything thats out there in this PRICE range you will find that the HDR-HC1E will get you the best results...unless you WANT, poor image resolution and want video aka 60i. Also none of that post 24P stuff works that good btw...i've tested all of it. I will also say this any HD camera in this price range is going to be the ticket. I say the HC1E because of all the cameras out there it has the most manual controls. The others who cares about manual if it looks like your shooting a home movie. I am in Chicago so if people are wondering..i own this camera you can check it out if you like to see for yourself. Only reason HC1E wont work is if you are doing motion tracking for CG elements which I doubt you are doing but I may be wrong. Peace, -Darren

[DjfunkmasterG]

I know the VX series cams are SD. However I was just posting my feeling that unless those model Numbers are on the camera they look like you are shooting home movies. The Panasonic series whether the DVX100 or HVX200 are way btter cameras with tons of manual control. The Canon XL-H1 is a great HD cam as well, although the $9k price tag is a bit of a drag.