Advice On Purchasing A Fine HD Camcorder, Please
 

Hello, fellow forumers.
I am currently looking for an excellent quality pro HD camcorder in the price range of $1500-2500. I now own a Sony VX2100E. So it should be something much better than that.
I would really appreciate your advice!
Thanks.

You won't get a Pro HD camera for anything like that. Why don't you look at somewhere like Creative Video or Prestons for an idea of what is available and the current prices.

Better in what way? As far as SD cameras are concerned, the VX2100 is hard to beat.

thank you for the reply, Stuart.
i saw a Sony HVR-HD1000U at $1600 on the web, so I assumed there would be HD camcorders in that price range.
the problem with my VX2100 is that the quality gets worse with each step of post-production. or perhaps there are certain methods for maintaining the original quality throughout the entire process i'm not aware of?

Yes, the Sony HD1000 looks like it is a great piece of kit and it's my intention to get one very soon (having just sold my VX2100). HDV isn't considered Pro HD, though - for "prosumer" use it's fine and a big step up from SD but for Pro quality, you need HDCam, XDCAM-HD or something similar.

As for the quality issues with the VX2100 - what is your workflow? What editing package do you use; how do you ingest the material; how do you output the finished product etc? If you're getting picture degradation, I think there is a problem somewhere along the line as your end product should be pretty much the same as your original.

i'm using final cut, occasionally imovie, on a macbook. footage input - always via firewire. output options: 1) fce/imovie > camcorder; or 2) fce/imovie > full quality quicktime .mov file > a deinterlacing application > dvd. quality loss starts as soon as i apply colour correction in either final cut or imovie. edges on some parts of the picture go blurry, and tiny pixels emerge where colour (or any other effect, basically) has been applied. i so long to maintain that original crispiness, though!

Hmm, yes - that's annoying. I haven't come across that problem before so can't offer any advice. it shouldn't happen so hopefully somebody will be able to offer some suggestions.

how would you normally use your vx2100? your ideal settings on the camcorder, tape type, etc?

The only thing I'm really fussy about setting manually on the camcorder is the white balance. I find the camera's idea of white balance and mine don't match! :) Apart from that, I usually leave things on auto settings (although focus is sometimes set to manual, depending on what I'm recording).

I use the standard FCP setups for importing and setting up sequences (PAL DV, although yours might be different). Everything has always worked fine and the final output is high quality.

hmm, sounds great.
why would one wanna go for an hd camcorder then? :-)

Aram
I think that you can try this one:
http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProdu...tegory=HDD+HDV

Stelios

I don't know what is available in PAL land, but, in the US, Sony is selling refurbished HDR-FX1s for close to $2000(USD) right now.

thanks for the last two posts, guys. interestingly, FX1 was the HD alternative on my VX2100 booklet, so I've always been aware of it. is it true that FX7 has weaker characteristics (light sensitivity, lens, etc) than FX1? and how do these two compare to the above-mentioned HD1000?

The HD1000 uses the same imaging chip as the HC7 HDV palmcorder. It is a nice CMOS imager, but it is not as good as the FX7 or FX1. The FX cameras are different but overall comparable. The FX1 is a bit better in low light but the FX7 has a better image in strong light with intense colors. The FX1 has a wider field of view but the FX7 has a very long zoom. I guess you could say that the FX1 is a bit better inside and the FX7 is a bit better outdoors.

thanks, Marcus. i guess i have to obtain both, then. hehe.