AG-HVX200 vs XL H1
 

I'm a film student who has done a few gigs in the event arena already with my GL2, but am looking to HD for my work as well as shorts.

My heart is in Wildlife productions though whether or not I ever get work in it.
I'm looking for a camera that will lend itself to that type (in the bush) of shooting as well as the event, commercial gigs. The P2 thing on puts me off a bit, but so does the size of the Canon.

Thanks,

Barret

Have you considered the Canon XH-A1?

Smaller size than the H1 and it uses tape. Longer telephoto lens too than the HVX ...

Yes, I will take a look.

Barret,
wildlife filming is a widely subject. Could you specify in more details what kind of wildlifefilming you have in mind?
Filming wild animals and birds often require external long telephoto lenses, landscape etc. do not.

I got to use the hvx200 a couple of weeks ago on a hiking trip. It produced superb imagery. But I kept coming back to my wife's Canon GL-2 with its 20x lens for wildlife closeups. I really loved the hvx200 but I would have to further refine my wildlife stalking skills and make more use of closer blinds to ever get the reach of the Canon 20x lens. Of course editing HDV presents its own challanges. Frankly, I think the Canon XH-A1 would be the best low-cost match for wildlife subjects and can do both SD and HDV.

"Barret,
wildlife filming is a widely subject. Could you specify in more details what kind of wildlifefilming you have in mind?
Filming wild animals and birds often require external long telephoto lenses, landscape etc. do not.
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I suppose at this time in my career I would be spending more time with landscape shots and large mammals/reptiles, not so much with birds though I'd like to get into that at some point when I can afford the lenses.

I also gravitate towards travel log productions such as GlobeTrekker/Lonely Planet and those that document wildlife. I spent 6 months in Africa earlier this year, shooting for myself and am just now getting into the footage.This is what I really want to do. But for now I will shoot the South Carolina wilderness on the weekends.

Barret, if you off with P2 cards, I think you will be in big trouble in a few years! Just kidding... ! ;-)
Seriously, you have to consider going to a tapeless system sooner or later, even if tapes will be on the marked years to come, I will consider the "tape-less" marked if I was you.
You should also think future in the way of your stock library. Shooting tapes SD/HDV this days, may lead to that those footage are "worthless" for comercial use in the future. It's wise to consider this before you buy!

There are so many camcorders in the marked today, that I will not recommend any brand or model. You got small handycams, which you can carry in your pocket and the bigger ones where you need decent tripods to operate.

Also read this forum (all sections) about different brands and models and not at least the editing sections where you get an view of how different systems (codecs) interact with different editing systems.

It's a tough world out there, believe me!

Have you thought of getting a Canon HV20? It's nothing like the A1 but it's a good cheap HD cam as a start.

I am considering a tapeless system. In fact I was looking at the Firestore hd. This with the with the XH-A1 should be a nice setup?

My editing system is FCP 6 on a Mac Pro.

I understand the tough world bit. I spent a year in NZ after graduating from Uni trying to get work in film, not to mention multiple trips to NYC with nothing to show for it. It's been a few years since Uni so I decided to get some Tech experience. I am one semester into a three semester Film Production program at Trident Tech in Charleston, SC.

Thanks for the recommendation Taky. However, I feel that I need to step up my equipment at this time. I'm currently running a GL2 and am not satisfied with the 1/4 chips. I'm working to hard on my projects to compromise quality any longer. I'm thinking about this XH-A1.