Need your opinion
 

Hello and greetings to all, this is my first post. I have taken 2 wedding gigs for free, 1 paid birthday using my Sony SR 100 hardrive cam. I will be having an 18th birthday gig this July. I'm planning to buy a camcorder but is kinda confuse what to buy. I'm just starting to learn this stuff so I can say that I'm a newbie. I learn some basic video editing using Vegas 6. I don't have much knowlege when it comes to "professional" camcorder settings. I don't know which camcorder is right for me. my choices are: 1. PD-170, 2. VX2100, 3. A1, any suggestions are most welcome. Thanks.

If you can try before you buy, that would be great. People will tell you their opinions about cameras, such as mine; 'The Gl2 from Canon is the greatest camera in the world.' That's just my opinion.


But really what I suppose you want to do is match your goals with your gear. If you are going to do low light events such as weddings, then the PD170 would do well, from what I hear from others. Or you'll have to light it up, with on camera lighting. I would spend some time on this board searching wedding threads and birthday's etc to see what other people have found useful in terms of equipment.

Forgive the shallow reply, but your question is kinda broad.

Your real decision will come in deciding between SD and HD, once you have that figured out, you can decide on the camera. The cameras you have listed are all great camera with great features, and any one of those you pick will work very well for you. I just recently purchased a new camera for my business and here was my philosophy. I know that in 3 years, many clients will be requesting HD. For that reason I chose to go ahead and spend the extra 2k and get a great HD camera instead of buying twice.

I currently have the HVX200, but the canon A1 is a great cam. It is lightweight, and pretty rugged as far as I could tell while playing with one on tuesday. I like the DVCPRO format better than HDV, and there are many different formats of HDV (Canon, Sony, and JVC all have their own format) I also really liked the JVC GY-HD100. It is shoulder mount and includes a 16x fujinon lens. One of the local TV stations in my area uses the JVC and they love it.

Joey,

Another model you may want to look at is the Panasonic AG DVC 30. Owners of this camcorder rave about it. I almost bought one but went with the Sony 2100 instead. No regrets, but you still sound like you're shopping around.

There are lot's of good threads on camcorder recommendations. Be sure to peruse some.

Good luck and enjoy!