this guy is located in england, which means that he'll get taxed to the max on anything he buys, and don't forget, it's a brand-new business.

i say jump in cheap; try to find a good used piece of sd gear that shoots wide screen, maybe from someone on this forum? since you can only deliver in sd, buy what works for now, then step up later, when the business can afford it... the prices for new technology will be much better then.

since sd is your only delivery format, good audio and lighting gear will have a much bigger impact on the quality of your productions than shooting hdv over sd will ever have... cameras and formats come and go, but good audio is an investment that will always pay off.

Decision made… finally!!!
 

It’s been a long week (far too long!!!) but after a lot of research, headaches, more research, more headaches etc and changing my mind a few times I have finally made up my mind on which camcorder to go for!!!

I am going for the Sony HDR-FX1... after taking a step back and looking at what I wanted, I feel this will be the best camcorder for me at this time. I wanted one which has the option of HD as I want to try and get in on the ground floor of the wedding HD market and try to get ahead. There where a few HD camcorders I considered but I felt that this was the one which is best for me at this moment in time. Possibly two years or so down the line I will change it (or most likely hold on to it as a second Camcorder) as HD camcorders will be much better and I will have a better understand of the world of HD because as far as editing etc goes I know very little at this time. I also looked at the HVR-Z1 but I personally couldn’t justify the big price difference between these two camcorders and will spend the difference on accessories etc.

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who posted.

Thanks again guys

I can understand your decision. It certainly is the cheapest option. I just couldn't live with the fact that a lot of guests at the weddings would have the same camera. It depends on how much you intend to charge to do the work.

I like the Z1 for the black stretch, personally, plus the color correct, cinematone 2 and 50i/60i.

heath

I'm going into doing weddings also (hopefully starting this summer), and am leaning toward the FX1, but seriously considering the Z1 (primarily for the black stretch). My intention is to shoot and deliver exclusively in HD. Yes, I do realize the challenges, from marketing to production and delivery. I've been working on how to address them for a while now (they are formidable, particularly marketing, since no one that I am aware of is seriously attempting to market for delivery in HD yet). I need to get one, of whatever camera I am going to go with, in the next few weeks, to stay on track for starting this summer (I have an HD10U that I purchased last year, to have something to experiment with, but need to start working now with the camera that I am actually going to be using, to get to know it inside and out).

I would be more seriously considering the HD100U if it had optical image stabilization (I was also rather put off by the price increase - a manufacturer actually raising the price of a camera just plain rubs me the wrong way). I haven't really seriously looked at the XL-H1, simply because it is difficult to believe that the price/performance ratio could really approach the FX1 (or Z1) and boosting the cost of acquisition like that would mean having to charge more (not good when trying to stay reasonably competitive, price wise, with well established SD delivery). Before I commit to purchasing a camera over 3k, I would like to ask though, has anyone directly compared the FX1/Z1 to the XL-H1 in low light?

I am really wondering why a lot of posts here mention the cost of a camera when they are using them to make money. I dont do weddings but in Australia, I always thought that it would be difficult to find someone to do the job for less than $2000. Is that not the case elswhere? Even a wedding a week would justify the cost of getting a camera like the Canon without having to compare it to the fX1.... surely?
I would be interested to know what you guys are charging for weddings etc.

So Andrew - where do we stand? Have you received your new camera yet or are we back to the drawing board?

I don't know about Andrew, but it may take me a couple weeks at least to actually make a purchase. I'm about 99+% decided now on one of the Sonys (FX1 or Z1) as a primary (A1U for second and backup), but not 100%, unless a great deal comes my way quickly (I'm currently tracking FX1s and Z1s on eBay thoroughly now).

I'm still toying just a little, in the back of my mind, with the idea of going the HD100U route, because of what I perceive as a little more robust image acquisition control, and that I probably will deliver most final output as 720p tweaked to display on LCDs and Plasmas. I could see potentially pulling some 720/60p straight from the head of a HD100U, via SDI, during ceremonies, at some point in the future.

It won't be the Canon for me. I just can't really justify doubling (or more) the camera costs (the cost of tools is a pretty fundamentally important consideration in anything close to reasonably sound business planning, for any business venture), when it is somewhat difficult for me to imagine that the Canon would even approach doubling the quality of the final product. Even if money were not an object, I'm not even sure the Canon would actually wind up being a better choice than the Z1 (or FX1) for weddings (how does it compare in low-light?). I'm not concerned about clients perceiving me as a professional while shooting with an FX1 or Z1 (or the A1U for that matter). If they don't perceive me as a professional, I surely have much bigger problems than my choice of camera!!!