Hi!

Im planning on doing some Snowboarding films and Mountain biking films.

My question is: What camera should I get?

I need a versatile camera that can handle the bright snow and night skiing under halogen lamps, as well as dark woods on MTB trails. I would like to do some slow-mo, maybe with 30p then slow it in post? Oh yea, also need a composite video in for a helmet cam. OH and a fisheye lens!

Also I dont want it to be expensive, cuz its might get beat up- $600-$1200? Im a cheap bastard ;)

I plan on using Avid or Premiere for post.

I am a total noob here and have NO experience in DV, I have been looking around the site for a couple days and love the board you guys have here.

A vx2000 would be great but I dont want to drop the paper if ya know what I mean

Any help?

That's asking for a lot.

I don't know of any newer consumer cams with have a slow motion feature.

Low light? Ugh. Low light cams haven't been invented yet. :)

Now go and buy yourself a new Canon Optura Xi. :)

could I do slow mo on the PC, like in Premier?

The Xi looks Neet!

Oh hey I just noticed you are from BC, IM in WA and was gonna do some footage at Whistler!

Yes you can do slo-mo in Premiere.

I'd suggest a Canon GL1. You can get a used one for around $1200. It's a pretty nice camera. Won't leave you any change for accessories, or lift tickets.

I'm thinking of doing a snowboarding video this winter at Whistler, but since last season sucked so bad, I'll probably jsut get in as much riding as I can.

Small good cams:

Optura Xi - $1000+
Pana dv953 - $1200
Pana gs100k - $1300, Japanese import

It's too bad you don't have enough for a GL2, $2000. Somehow, you remind me of the GL2. A used GL1 works too.

Actually,the 953 fits your bill the best, I would say. An ultimate fun-in-sun cam, with, I believe, frame mode, which is to say, progressive wanna be. For sure. Read up and find out about shooting video for slow motion; I think it's generally advised to shoot in normal interlaced video.

John,

A guy posted a Sony trv900 as For Sale yesterday in the classified forum here. I don't know any real details about this cam, only that it's a much praised, slightly older Sony cam. I'm sure someone else can tell you more.
Regards,
Shawn

Thanks for the replies so far, the Panasonic PV-DV953 looks like a hell of a deal $1053 for a 3 ccd camera, have you guys used one of these yet? Almost seems to good to be true!...thing even has a Leica Lens!

I wonder what some footage looks like from that camera

John. It looks very good, unless you shoot in the dork, er dark. But go try the Optura Xi also, before you lay down your cash. "Also I dont want it to be expensive, cuz its might get beat up- $600-$1200? Im a cheap bastard."

Pick your poisen
PV-DV953 - for shooting fine deep shadows and dork blacks.
Optura Xi - for capturing that color in them cheeks.

PV-DV953 - 3 chip
Optura Xi - 1 chip

Don't ask me which one I would pick, but probably the PV-DV953, unless the Xi is cheaper---"cuz Im a cheap b_stard." But look at Pokey, he's saving for a PV-DV953 (MX5000). See Pokey here: http://www.dvfreak.com/mx5000ad.jpg

OK it looks like I am going to place an order with Profeel.com for the PV-DV953 $1,083.90 shipped.

Any objections?

If might help if you check out resellerratings first: http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1757.html

I (un)fortunately have no experience doing business with them so I don't know how good they are.

Good call Glenn,

OK I found a better deal: $1,011.95 shipped from Buydig.com

Good?

I think you should go for it. I would only reiterate something that Frank said, that it isn't the greatest cam in really low light. But if this is action shooting at night with halogen lights, you shouldn't have a problem getting interesting stuff. Otherwise you are sure to turn out excellent footage mornings, days, and afternoons, and will have to fiddle a bit more for the evenings. The 953 has a wealth of controls (for a consumer cam) that will enable acceptable results whatever the conditions. Seriously, though, do a search on the 953 here, you're going to find out all sorts of things about this cam as you gain hands on experience. For it's size, the image quality, and the money, this is a great way to go for what you're doing. Enjoy!
Regards,
Shawn

Trot over to Camcorderinfo.com, John. Their dv953 forum has some great new cam owner friendly threads, advice, happy thoughts, etc. Plenty of people seem very satisfied with the 953 in lower light, after a little experimentation.

I wouldn't buy anything I hadn't tried. A camera is a very personal choice. What's impressive to one person may not be to another.

I went on a tear with a blank tape and tried evry camera that tweaked my fancy. I spent a month vascilating between a VX2K. PD150, a TRV900 and an XL1S.

When i bough my camera , I knew exactly why i wanted it.

And buying the TRV900 was a mistake, then? :):)

Buy yourself a Panasonic pv-dv702. It's a great cam! You won't believe the footage I already got. It's small, inexpensive, but shoots great video. Just ask anyone here about it. Ask that Frank guy, he knows. Before I bought it, I read good stuff about it on dv.com. Mostly from him.

<<<-- Originally posted by John Gaspain : Good call Glenn,

OK I found a better deal: $1,011.95 shipped from Buydig.com

Good? -->>>

Someone here just recently had a sketchy experience with buydig.com, cancelled the order, and ended up going with B&H. Turns out the shipping from B&H was much cheaper, although the camera itself was a bit more expensive, so it balanced out mostly.

I'll see if I can find the thread.

EDIT: I can't find the thread now. Can someone else post a link to it if they know the one I'm talking about?

Profeel seems like a slighlty disorganized but benevolent place to do business. I've had one experience with them, and it was, ultimately, good, although they did misplace my order at first.

Alright! I just ordered a 953 from buydig...now i just have to wait for it.

Thanks for the help!

I'm sure you'll like the cam. It's a solid little machine with good manual controls---just don't try shooting with it in the dark. :)

Trot over to Camcorderinfo.com, John. Their dv953 forum has some great new cam owner friendly threads, advice, happy thoughts, etc. Plenty of people seem very satisfied with the 953 in lower light, after a little experimentation.

Well I just visited camcorderinfo, and it only took 6 minutes to get into the main page...then I gave up. I'm not knocking the site but I've always found this site to be over-bloated. Even www.dv.com is a way faster, and find that site rather slow since they down-graded with their upgrade about 2 years ago. It's a shame. The only time I visit camcorderinfo is when I'm at a high speed Internet connection somewhere.

I agree that the site is a bit of a trial to get into sometimes, and the content, well, I found it useful when first starting out with dv. I find it most useful when inquiring about sub $1000 cams. It has become a part of my cross reference routine for general, light research.



Congratulations John! Let us know what you think, before and after some snow shoots.

Here it is!

I got it today- it took about a week, 3 days processing & 3 shipping from buydig.com

Thanks for the help deciding on this great tiny camera.

I gotta go play now :)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid85/p142d646be1b5731ac7e15c21c6199cd1/fac0593b.jpg

Congrats! Now you tell people this: I'd rather have a MX5000 today, than spend a year's salary on something that'll be obsolete tomorrow.

http://www.dvfreak.com/mx5000ad.jpg

Already blended in with your rec. area there, eh John? Congratulations. Snow's up. Whatta cute lil' cam that 953 is! Makes my pdx10 look like a rhinoceros.

Ive been playing around with the fisheye, heres my results

16:9 with frame mode is stunning

small
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid86/p63521fef081f2545917dd321b7c11b2a/faaff08f.jpg

big
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid86/p63521fef081f2545917dd321b7c11b2a/faaff08f.jpg.orig.jpg