sony vx2100 or jvx gr-hd1
 

looking to get a camera soon and deciding between a vx2100 and gr-hd1. main use would be shooting interior/exterior of real estate w/ final output directly to dvd and the web. since both are similarly priced now i'm looking to get either of these. any suggestions much appreciated. ie: which would you purchase? thanks!

You will want something that will give you wide angle attachment capability, and potential give you a bright picture. I've used the VX2000 with a Kenco .7 wide adapter, and have had a pretty nice result. The Sony is tough and rugged, and shoots trouble free out of the box in auto mode. It is tops in low light.

Differences
 

It seems to me that the VX2100 will give you better colors. The GR-HD1 is a High-Def camera and does not have the three chip capacity. Taking advantage of the HD would require much larger files. You might consider that VX2100 considering is will give you smaller files to start out with.

Another thing to keep in mind is that both these cameras have the capability to take still frames onto a memory card. This will eliminate the need for a digital camera, though it would be important to remember to take stills on the same day that you take videos. You probably allready have a digital still camera, in which case you could use it as a back up or on days that you won't be using video. The digital still function on the VX2100 is great, but I've never used it on the GR-HD1, so I have no opinion there.

I hope this makes sense and is helpful.

Daniel C Lynn

For stills, I'd be inclined to still carry a second camera. Even cheap point-and-shoot cameras will still give you a better image. You might be able to get a wider angle shot with either video camera (with a wide angle adapter), but other than that I wouldn't give up the still camera.

For video, note that the GR-HD1 is not noted for its low light capabilities (specs say 35 lux, but I have no personal experience with this camera), which I expect would be rather critical for your purposes. The VX2100 is the low-light champ, and I'm always amazed at how well it works indoors with "sub-par" lighting.

-Terence

I tried this market too
 

I might also suggest a stabilizer of some sort. Static "pan & zoom" is nice, but when you watch those "Live styles of the rich and famous" videos the camera moves through door ways and that is an impressive shot.

I used a tripod folded up as dead weight under my camera to dampen vibrations, but I still got a slight pendulum effect. Better than nothing, but could use some work.

jason

removed........

VX2100 the Best Choice
 

As others have said, the low-light capability of the VX2100 would give you much better images, whenever you are shooting late in the evening or inside a house. It would be simpler to manage its standard-definition recordings than the HD you get from the JVC model. Of course, you could always take an SD output from an HDV camcorder. If your video will be put on DVDs with SD resolution, the VX2100 will probably give you the sharpest picture quality.

As far as still images in memory mode are concerned, the VX2100 will produce excellent 640 X 480 pictures, but that's all the higher the pixel-size can go. If they are well-shot, these J-PEGs, which are encoded in Super-Fine mode at about 180 Kb in bit-size, will do nicely for E-Mail attachments. However, by most people's standards, they would fall short in resolution if you wanted to use them on printed brochures. You would be better off to use any good digital camera that has 2-MP of pixel-size or higher, for your still shots. If you want to print pictures in large, poster-size, you should use a camera that has at least 6-MP or even higher, if the sharpest resolution is needed. I've attached a couple of examples of 640 X 480 J-PEGs I've shot in memory mode on a VX2100, to give you an example of how they can look:

vx2100 or jvx-gr-hd1
 

Jaser,
Please, check my post on page 8 of the private classifieds section. What I have listed for sale sounds like it could be the perfect package for your needs, and save you a substantial amout of money as well. I hope it is okay to make a reference to my ad in this part of the forum. It starts out as VX-2000 with extras for sale. Hope this may help.

regards,
Matthew Klos