Camera Choices
 

I know much has already been discussed on these and other forums, so just another one of those which camera to buy questions. Considering these. About a $10,000.00 budget. Low light is a particular interest and best image is always important. Although I'd guess any of the mentioned cameras surely have remarkable quality.

JVC HM79U
Canon XF 305
Sony PMWEX3

All seem to have their strengths. I shoot industrial, coporate, commercial and event production. Edit with Adobe CS5 nad Matrox MX02

Thanks

Bob

Obviously form factor doesn't seem to be a priority since you have a small form factor, a "mini" shoulder mount and a shoulder leaner so that IMO show an open mind and not worrying about "the look". Thats good.
I know a few guys that use the HM700 which is pretty much the same as the 790 (790 of course is the "studio" version) and they love it but I also know some guys that use the EX3 and wouldn't think of using anything else now. That is for the type of work they are doing. Don't know anyone using the Canon. These are people I know personally so I trust what their opinons, mostly. ;-)

1/2 inch, 1/3 inch MOV or QT or MXF????? Enough to make you stick a pencil in your eye. I guess it really comes own to which manufacturer you might like the most, maybe which camera appeals to you most from a physical look or which one gives you a workflow that you prefer. Honestly I think they are all outstanding cams and would do the job for you quite well.

Hows that for hedging my bets? :-O

As for lowlight I know the people using the JVC are happy but the Sony guys LOVE what the EX can do in less than ideal lighting conditions so that might be the deciding factor. I don't know enough about the Canon to make a comment. If it were me I would opt for the EX not just because I'm a Sony kind of guy, I've had and used many JVCs thruout my lifetime, but the low light performance. It's certainly not the form factor (shoulder leaner) nt my cup of coffee but a bracket/brace can fix that.

Pays your money takes your choice.

There's also the CCD vs CMOS thing to think about. JVC is CCD, I think all the others are CMOS sensors

CMOS pros - low light performance. Cons - rolling shutter (AKA jello-cam) and some issues with still camera flash only showing up on part of the image.

Maybe not a big deal for how you plan to use it, but if you were wanting to do matchmoving then maybe CCD would be preferable. There are some programs that claim to fix the skewing of vertical lines when panning but not sure how well they work

Just a couple of thoughts.

Get the PMW EX-3 or the newer PMW EX 320 for a little more. There are lots of advantages in using a larger chip. It's a good compromize between the 1/3" chips and the real professional image sensors of the 2/3" cameras. Most cameramen find the quality more than adequate for non broadcast applications. Everyone would love to have a Sony PDW f800 XDCAM with its 2/3" sensor but the reality is that most people need an affordable solution. I rent the f800 for higher end jobs because the end product is an XDCAM archival disc.
I have an EX-3 and saw a slighttly better image from it than the Canon XF305 in a multi-camera shoot. It's a personal opinion but I would choose a larger imager. The codec is also more efficient. Just look with your eyes instead of worrying about 4:2:2 or 4:2:0. I don't have any experience with the newer Panasonic or JVC cameras to make any comments on them.