PAL Canon B roll camera for weddings at DVinfo.net

Howard Neill · April 15th, 2010, 06:39 AM

Looking at our local options of Canon HD consumer grade cameras, there is quite a line up. Can anyone advise me if any on this list would be suitable as a B roll camera for weddings.

Canon - Digital Cameras and Accessories - Orms Photo Warehouse

Cheers

.

Hameed Aabid · April 15th, 2010, 06:57 AM

For tape based HVxx are pretty good. I recently bought xh a1s and using it as main camera and my HV30 as b-roll.

Howard Neill · April 15th, 2010, 09:07 AM

Thanks Hameed. I was wondering if I should start moving away from tape?

Chris Harding · April 15th, 2010, 04:45 PM

Hi Howard

I was very reluctant to move away from tape last year but as I'm a Panasonic fan (since the '80's!!) I realised that they had no new cameras to offer that were still tape based so I had to bite the bullet and move to tapeless!! I must admit that my fears were totally unfounded!! Both my cams have now done around 20 weddings this season start in September and the results have been awesome!! Transfer is lightning fast of course. (I just pull out the card and copy with the card reader in my computer) There is no long realtime wait for tape to transfer and, of course, no wear and tear on your cameras either!!

At present I have no call for BD so I simply store the HD files on the drive but I do transcode the AVCHD to SD before editing BUT it's still way quicker than a realtime tape transfer.

I'm still a firm believer in having identical cams but plenty as using a different camera for B-Roll footage!! As far as the big change I would go for it. I was delighted with the results (and you save heaps on media costs!!! I have run a rotated set of 4 cards the last 8 months at a cost of $160.. 40 or more tapes for this period would have set me back $350!!!! and I'm still using the cards!! Probably replace them when we get the Winter slowdown!)

Chris

Howard Neill · April 15th, 2010, 06:12 PM

Thanks Chris

The initial outlay of replacing cameras is a daunting prospect.

Cheers

.

Chris Harding · April 15th, 2010, 06:24 PM

Hi Howard

It's basically the same as a car!! I tend to replace my cams not later than two years and that way your resale value is still high!! I normally put the old cams on eBay and get quite a respectable price for them which offsets the capital cost!! My next two are due in 2011 as soon as the rush is over and we are looking probably at around $6500 for the new Pansonic HMC82's which is, admittedly a big chunk, but my existing HMC72's will quite easily fetch $2K each so that will help the pain!! I just find it comforting to know that I have a fairly new camera to do the job. The first couple of weddings in the new season normally pays the difference between the old and new deficit!!

You should also be able to write off a sizeable chuck of the purchase price for tax purposes so the actual nett cost is still fairly bearable!!

I thought that you are already shooting with 3 cameras????

Chris

Chris Harding · April 15th, 2010, 06:31 PM

Hi Howard

Sorry forgot to mention!!
I see your XH-A1 is around R40K which is nearly AUS$6000 ... I import my cams from GlobalMediaPro and the price difference is massive They sell the XH-A1 for only AUS$3400 ...we can bring them in duty free but have to pay GST of 10% but it's still saves heaps of money!!!

Might be worth looking into????

Chris

Hameed Aabid · April 16th, 2010, 12:20 AM

^ I agree. I bought my XH A1s for ~ AU$4200 from quickshop.com.au. No customs or anything... I still don't get how they did it, but don't really wanna know... ;)

Howard Neill · April 16th, 2010, 04:35 PM

Thanks guys.

Yes, we shoot the service with three, or more, cams. That makes replacement all the more expensive.

Cheers

.

April 15th, 2010, 06:39 AM	#1
Howard Neill Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Town South Africa Posts: 47	PAL Canon B roll camera for weddings Looking at our local options of Canon HD consumer grade cameras, there is quite a line up. Can anyone advise me if any on this list would be suitable as a B roll camera for weddings. Canon - Digital Cameras and Accessories - Orms Photo Warehouse Cheers . __________________ Howard http://www.mfneill.com/ - Cape Town - where two oceans meet

April 15th, 2010, 09:07 AM	#3
Howard Neill Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Town South Africa Posts: 47	Thanks Hameed. I was wondering if I should start moving away from tape? __________________ Howard http://www.mfneill.com/ - Cape Town - where two oceans meet

April 15th, 2010, 06:12 PM	#5
Howard Neill Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Town South Africa Posts: 47	Thanks Chris The initial outlay of replacing cameras is a daunting prospect. Cheers . __________________ Howard http://www.mfneill.com/ - Cape Town - where two oceans meet

April 16th, 2010, 04:35 PM	#9
Howard Neill Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Town South Africa Posts: 47	Thanks guys. Yes, we shoot the service with three, or more, cams. That makes replacement all the more expensive. Cheers . __________________ Howard http://www.mfneill.com/ - Cape Town - where two oceans meet

April 15th, 2010, 06:57 AM	#2
Hameed Aabid Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Virgo Supercluster Posts: 83	For tape based HVxx are pretty good. I recently bought xh a1s and using it as main camera and my HV30 as b-roll.

April 15th, 2010, 04:45 PM	#4
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Hi Howard I was very reluctant to move away from tape last year but as I'm a Panasonic fan (since the '80's!!) I realised that they had no new cameras to offer that were still tape based so I had to bite the bullet and move to tapeless!! I must admit that my fears were totally unfounded!! Both my cams have now done around 20 weddings this season start in September and the results have been awesome!! Transfer is lightning fast of course. (I just pull out the card and copy with the card reader in my computer) There is no long realtime wait for tape to transfer and, of course, no wear and tear on your cameras either!! At present I have no call for BD so I simply store the HD files on the drive but I do transcode the AVCHD to SD before editing BUT it's still way quicker than a realtime tape transfer. I'm still a firm believer in having identical cams but plenty as using a different camera for B-Roll footage!! As far as the big change I would go for it. I was delighted with the results (and you save heaps on media costs!!! I have run a rotated set of 4 cards the last 8 months at a cost of $160.. 40 or more tapes for this period would have set me back $350!!!! and I'm still using the cards!! Probably replace them when we get the Winter slowdown!) Chris

April 15th, 2010, 06:24 PM	#6
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Hi Howard It's basically the same as a car!! I tend to replace my cams not later than two years and that way your resale value is still high!! I normally put the old cams on eBay and get quite a respectable price for them which offsets the capital cost!! My next two are due in 2011 as soon as the rush is over and we are looking probably at around $6500 for the new Pansonic HMC82's which is, admittedly a big chunk, but my existing HMC72's will quite easily fetch $2K each so that will help the pain!! I just find it comforting to know that I have a fairly new camera to do the job. The first couple of weddings in the new season normally pays the difference between the old and new deficit!! You should also be able to write off a sizeable chuck of the purchase price for tax purposes so the actual nett cost is still fairly bearable!! I thought that you are already shooting with 3 cameras???? Chris

April 15th, 2010, 06:31 PM	#7
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Hi Howard Sorry forgot to mention!! I see your XH-A1 is around R40K which is nearly AUS$6000 ... I import my cams from GlobalMediaPro and the price difference is massive They sell the XH-A1 for only AUS$3400 ...we can bring them in duty free but have to pay GST of 10% but it's still saves heaps of money!!! Might be worth looking into???? Chris

April 16th, 2010, 12:20 AM	#8
Hameed Aabid Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Virgo Supercluster Posts: 83	^ I agree. I bought my XH A1s for ~ AU$4200 from quickshop.com.au. No customs or anything... I still don't get how they did it, but don't really wanna know... ;)