instructional video, which cam?
 

hi everyone, posted a while back regarding making a kick boxing instructional DVD and i came to the conculsion that i was best of with a SD XL2 but the powers that be would like to shoot hi def.

its a small production so the budget is small and i would appreciate if somebody could recommend a cheap hi def camera. the camera's will be hired and for as cheaply as possible. any help would be greatly appreciated or just pointing me in the right direction. thanks for your time people. and if you got any questions then just ask.

Thanks!!!

When I looked at making the jump to HD, here's what I did...

1. Go to the HD section of this forum and read the reviews.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=61

2. Then read the posts (as many as you can because sometimes good nfo is buried deep in a thread). You will find that what camera you want depends on what you want to do with it. So read with that in mind and figure out which camera best fits your needs. It will dawn on you, at some point, that it's easier to exclude a camera for a reason then to try and figure out which features you need. Think of it as doing a maze in reverse.

2. Now that you have it narrowed down to two or three cameras, check out the sponsors of this message board and find your best price.

I ended up going with the Sony HDR-FX1 and I love it.

Thanks
 

Thanks Dennis for the reply. i like your way of working it out. a maze in reverse.

at this moment in time im unsure as to what specific features of a camera i need. this is the first time that ive reallly had to know what im talking about. for a couple of years it just been point and shoot and then edit for what i do but now i really need to know. but this is the best way to find out.

also a pretty silly question but how do i find out what i features on a camera i need?

thanks again!!!

First of all I cannot tell how much you know about cameras, from your posts it sounds like the technical details are not part of your knowledge base. If you are going to use auto features then get a camera with good stable focus in auto and don't worry past that. There really isn't a bad camera, only better cameras for your knowledge and preferences. It really sounds more like you need the best quality point and shoot unless you have a good knowledge base of cameras such as f-stop, shutter speed, etc.
Also is this going to be a staionary camera or hand held for most? Is there going to be alot of video shot without control of the lighting or more or less a well lit studio setting with action all in a contained area?
I say all this because I know that using my cheap camera with everything auto has helped me with framing and editing but has not helped me at all with using my good camera as far as getting a better quality picture. The quality you get with a good camera is mostly about how much you know because I have shot worse footage with my good camera than with my bad camera by screwing up a setting. I also have alot of great footage I never could have taken with my basic camera because I knew how to work it. As a point and shoot both my cameras are about the same in auto mode at 6-10 feet, except the color quaity is better with the 3 chip than the 1 chip.