dv953 - should i get it now, or wait?
 

ive heard good things about the dv953 but bad things about the low light capibilities. is it really that bad? i dont plan on shooting in the dark, but there may be times @ night in the city that i might shoot some video...does the quality suffer so much that i should really consider another camera?

does anyone have any clips from the camera in low light situations?

any help would be greatly appreciated. im planning on purchasing the camera from b&h in a couple weeks hopefully...

thanks in advance,
john

The DV953 is not a great performer in low light but unless you plan on moving up to a 1/4" or 1/3" 3CCD cam you're going to get similar low light performance with the current crop of single CCD and entry level 3CCD.

The link below shows the low light difference between the VX2000 (1/3" 3CCD), GL2 (1/4" 3CCD), TRV950 (1/4.7" 3CCD), and the MX5000 (1/6" 3CCD aka DV953).

http://www4.big.or.jp/~a_haru/0208_3CCD.html

hmm...yeah, thanks tommy! that was a great comparison.

ive used the vx2k and pd150 before, and i am aware of the awesome quality, but i really cant afford spending that much on a video camera right now. i just wanted something that would look great if i made some dvd's and/or maybe even just fool around and make a short film.

itll mostly be used for home video, etc.

is there anything else you would recommend that is around the 800-1200 range?

would the trv-950 be a better option for the price?

any other cams out there that i should look at?

thanks again!

The PV-DV953 is an excellent cam, but far from excellent in low light, as Tommy mentioned. In that price range, you may want to wait for new model 1 CCD cams to come out and then see if any make the grade; or buy something used like a TRV900 or MX3000---but even these 2 cams are a far cry from the low LUX requirements of the VX2000. Have you looked at JVC's DV900U? Check that one out in low light. It has an averaged sized CCD and a F1.2 lens.

John,
There are a lot of low light pix and videos on my website for the DV953, GS100 and GS200. If you want small size, excellent color, reasonable low light, and indifferent still pix, I recommend the GS120.

hmm...i dont really need high quality "stills" being that i have a canon 10D along with a wide range of lenses being that im coming from photography into video.

how do the 1 chippers perform against the 953's 3 ccds? again, i dont think ill be doing too much low light shooting...if anything, maybe in vegas with the lights being my only source of illumination.

bleh...i think maybe i should just save up and get a pd170...lol...or maybe a used vx2k?

how much should i be able to get a used vx2k for now?

There is quite a bunch of 2004 cam releases that have some improvement over last year's models in terms of low-light performance. GS200, GS120, FVM100 (Elura70), the new upright JVCs with 3" LCDs and even the latest ZR series Canons, mostly due to better noise reduction engine. Images are still as dark, but certainly cleaner, and especially with the 3-CCD Panys, ability to maintain accurate color in low light is commendable (unless you shoot in very very dark condition).

So I suggest you take a look at this year's models. Canon just announced their latest Opturas,

Do you have a link for these new Opturas? There was nothing at http://www.canondv.com

Any new Panas announced? Like a replacement model for the GS100?

I got an email notification from camcorderinfo.com. Most probably Canon Japan will be having an announcement soon regarding the Jap version, then the complete specs of the new Optura should be available. From the info provided by Robin Liss, it looks like the Optura Xi/300 specs with improved low-light.

No new info from Pany Japan yet. Perhaps in late May or early June.

When I look at the link supplied by Tommy,

http://www4.big.or.jp/~a_haru/0208_3CCD.html

the color on the Sony appears flat, not as rich as the Panasonic in some pictures (specifically the soft-drink cans and the red flowers).