Buying a pro camera soon. Need help! at DVinfo.net

George Logothetis · January 29th, 2011, 04:22 PM

Hello,

I am about to finish my studies at University and a production company asked me to work as a camera op for them. They provide me with the equipment for the work, but I think its time to upgrade from my current camera which is a consumer SD camera ( JVC mg -175, which is way to old).

At uni I have mainly worked with JVC pro cameras so I was thinking to go for a JVC one (such as GY HM100-110) but as the scene is bigger and I believe that maybe better (and cheaper?) pro cameras exist I would like to know more about them. I will use the camera for films and events as well as journalism. My budget atm is 3500 euros but I can wait after I get paid from the job and I will have a budget of 5000.

So, I would like to know what other HD cameras exist. What are their pros and cons compared to jvc equivalent, their ease of use and their price (At the moment I would love to find a good one for less than my budget.)

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Please no biased opinions. Cheers!

Arnie Schlissel · January 29th, 2011, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George Logothetis

They provide me with the equipment for the work

Then you should probably save your money and don't buy a camera right now. Wait until you've had a few of years experience shooting professionally, and you're freelancing. And even then, you don't necessarily need to own a camera. You can always rent, and you can usually rent a much better system than you can buy.

George Logothetis · January 29th, 2011, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arnie Schlissel

Then you should probably save your money and don't buy a camera right now. Wait until you've had a few of years experience shooting professionally, and you're freelancing. And even then, you don't necessarily need to own a camera. You can always rent, and you can usually rent a much better system than you can buy.

Cheers! Yes, I know. But this is only a job that will be for 2-3 weeks. From then on I dunno what shall I do. I mean my camera quality is this

(I had some free time this xmas to experiment :D ) I believe I need something better for sure! Do you reckon that I might not need a professional and more likely a good consumer instead? (if yes, give me some good options)

Cheers!

P.S. , I hope you like my video.

Chris Soucy · January 29th, 2011, 09:54 PM

Please ignore, my pc's having a freakout here!

Les Wilson · January 30th, 2011, 05:10 AM

@ George....go to bhphotovideo.com and drill down to the Pro Video Camcorders. Sort them by price. For each one in your price range, look here in DVInfo using the Search and the Main Groupings of threads for the various discussions about them. What you ask has been asked and answered many times over.

Henry Posner · January 30th, 2011, 10:46 AM

[i/] George....go to bhphotovideo.com and drill down to the Pro Video Camcorders.[/i]

Let us know if we can help in any way.

Erik Norgaard · January 30th, 2011, 12:35 PM

Hi:

You should consider buying in EU as this will save you from the trouble of paying import tax and give you the EU consumer protection, and in worst case, a plane ticket to the reseller is affordable.

I have been buying a lot, although photography stuff, from calumet photo, they are in both US, UK, NL and DE, I have found that the UK shop is the best, is this the one you're looking for?

JVC GY-HM100U Compact Hand Held Camcorder - 941-109B - GY HM 100

BR, Erik

George Logothetis · January 30th, 2011, 01:49 PM

Ok, this is advertisement and i didnt ask for it. Thanks to the first replier. If anyone has more opinions feel free to share!

Cheers!

Erik Norgaard · January 30th, 2011, 02:24 PM

Sorry, I did not mean to advertise. I do not represent mentioned seller nor do I receive any benefits from mentioning them here. Only, I have had good experience with this particular reseller. Go out and find alternatives and compare.

My point anyway is: You should consider buying from a reseller in the EU, it makes things easier for you with respect to returns and warranty. And also, not mentioned, cameras sold from the US are usually sold with 60i/60p/30p/24p where as in the EU you will find 50i/50p/25p.

BR, Erik

George Logothetis · February 7th, 2011, 03:50 PM

hello again!

Lets say I should stay in the consumer area for now, what are my options and how much do they cost?
As I am not going for professional and instead saving for later, I need a good overall camera not more than 650 pounds. Advice?

Cheers

Philip Bateman · February 8th, 2011, 10:47 PM

I am getting great results out of the NEX-5 and ECM-SST1 + redhead windshield for a relatively minor investment, plus a zoom h4n if required for audio. I'm guessing the image stablilisation of the NEX-VG10 will beat the NEX-5 but for the compact nature of it.. mmm.. 480p here (yoga camp promo, all shot free-hand with the NEX-5 inc. stills YouTube - Yoga Camp Australia: a low-cost, family friendly opportunity to experience the benefits of a retreat) and then a recent Portable Dance Portal I did in 720p via Edius 6 - YouTube - Dont Walk Dance - Portable Dance Portal - Flinders Street, Melbourne.

Looking at Nikon D7000 etc as I want that beautiful treacly full-frame kinda look, my base camera before the NEX was the CX550 (and of note, when filming a week ago at the Rainbow Serpent festival the guy doing all the 'close up' shots using his Canon got a good 3-5 minutes in before his sensor overheated in the 30+ degree day, my NEX-5 shutting down about 2-3 minutes after his did. The CX550 kept going for another hour, didn't care at all.

Might have something to do with comparing a postage stamped sized sensor in a large body to one a lot bigger in a thinner body, but hey, these are issues we deal with right? :)

The picture quality variation between the CX550 and the NEX-5 is rather amazing, add on a $30 NEX to Canon FD adapter from ebay (

Canon FD Lens to SONY NEX-5 NEX-3 NEX-VG10 NEX Adapter (eBay item 320599168158 end time 03-Mar-11 19:27:13 AEDST) : Cameras) and I've been using old FD 200mm and 135mm lenses I have here but quality wise the Sony nex-5 18-55 kit lens on the nex does a decent job. I've never used the pancake lens.

I've got some 1080p footage contrasting the NEX-5 and CX550 (the brighter 16:9 footage) against footage recorded in 4:3 with a pretty juicy camera back in 2010 that I'm in the middle of editing, the nonpublic first minute is here FYI > YouTube - Second draft intro 1d.

38 seconds is the NEX-5, 54 seconds is the CX550 with a VCL-DH0758 on step-down rings (hence the black corners), 1:14 (car) + 1:20-23 is the NEX-5 again and 1:24 back to the CX550.

For $2-3k I'd take 2 gopros, 2 nex-5's and a Zoom h1 over 1 expensive camera. That said I'm looking at a Nikon D7000 but will likely get the NEX VG10 mmmm..

Next steps are upgrading my hardware now that I have Edius 6, then a Steadicam Merlin so that the NEX footage doesn't give people a headache :)

If you can keep peoples faces away from the NEX it looks very good (for a $500 camera) imho > the main shot here YouTube - jameforbes's Channel was done on the CX550 and the cut aways / roving 'in your face' stuff was me waving the NEX about on a tripod.

Of note the audio in the Jame Forbes stuff is being picked up on a Zoom h4n, the other stuff you see is via the ECM-SST1 mic on the NEX.

The CX550 has 64gb internal memory and I bought a 64gb Sandisk SDXC card for the NEX ($200 -/+ on ebay woot >

Sandisk Ultra 64GB SDXC Class 4 Memory Card 15MB/s BNIB (eBay item 230580392161 end time 02-Mar-11 20:05:06 AEDST) : Cameras). Between the two I estimate I could wipe the storage and get a working week of 3-4 hours a day without an issue.

Handy part of the NEX is putting it on sports continuous mode and taking 4 or so images per second when you hold the button down, standing across a room with a 135mm lens on it. Means you can get to a conference or similar, and as everyone runs up to the buffet or similar, you hold the button down and then scan the images, rather than wait for 'the perfect moment' in a high energy situation.

Unhandy part is you can't take an image whilst recording video ala the CX550 (and something the A55 is worth a look for).

The autofocus on the NEX is a bit umm.. average .. I find it keeps settling on my backgrounds and not my subjects (YouTube - shocolatemasters's Channel).. but hey.. for the cost?? LOVE it :)

Hope this helps.

Les Wilson · February 9th, 2011, 05:22 AM

@George, What you ask has been asked and answered many times over. How is your question different than the many many many many others who ask this? Have you read the http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/open-dv-...uy-thread.html ?

Go to bhphotovideo.com or Adorama.com and drill down to the Consumer Video Camcorders. Sort them by price. For each one in your price range, look here in DVInfo using the Search and the Main Groupings of threads for the various discussions about them. There are other websites that have reviews and discussions of consumer camcorders.

January 29th, 2011, 04:22 PM	#1
George Logothetis Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Athens Greece / York UK Posts: 48	Buying a pro camera soon. Need help! Hello, I am about to finish my studies at University and a production company asked me to work as a camera op for them. They provide me with the equipment for the work, but I think its time to upgrade from my current camera which is a consumer SD camera ( JVC mg -175, which is way to old). At uni I have mainly worked with JVC pro cameras so I was thinking to go for a JVC one (such as GY HM100-110) but as the scene is bigger and I believe that maybe better (and cheaper?) pro cameras exist I would like to know more about them. I will use the camera for films and events as well as journalism. My budget atm is 3500 euros but I can wait after I get paid from the job and I will have a budget of 5000. So, I would like to know what other HD cameras exist. What are their pros and cons compared to jvc equivalent, their ease of use and their price (At the moment I would love to find a good one for less than my budget.) Thanks in advance! P.S. Please no biased opinions. Cheers!

January 29th, 2011, 09:54 PM	#4
Chris Soucy Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fairfield, Dunedin, New Zealand Posts: 3,682 Images: 18	Hi, George.................. Please ignore, my pc's having a freakout here!

January 30th, 2011, 10:46 AM	#6
Henry Posner sponsor: B&H Photo-Video Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 137	[i/] George....go to bhphotovideo.com and drill down to the Pro Video Camcorders.[/i] Let us know if we can help in any way. __________________ Henry Posner B&H Photo-Video

February 8th, 2011, 10:47 PM	#11
Philip Bateman New Boot Join Date: May 2010 Location: Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia Posts: 9	Experience with Sonys re: consumer cameras I am getting great results out of the NEX-5 and ECM-SST1 + redhead windshield for a relatively minor investment, plus a zoom h4n if required for audio. I'm guessing the image stablilisation of the NEX-VG10 will beat the NEX-5 but for the compact nature of it.. mmm.. 480p here (yoga camp promo, all shot free-hand with the NEX-5 inc. stills YouTube - Yoga Camp Australia: a low-cost, family friendly opportunity to experience the benefits of a retreat) and then a recent Portable Dance Portal I did in 720p via Edius 6 - YouTube - Dont Walk Dance - Portable Dance Portal - Flinders Street, Melbourne. Looking at Nikon D7000 etc as I want that beautiful treacly full-frame kinda look, my base camera before the NEX was the CX550 (and of note, when filming a week ago at the Rainbow Serpent festival the guy doing all the 'close up' shots using his Canon got a good 3-5 minutes in before his sensor overheated in the 30+ degree day, my NEX-5 shutting down about 2-3 minutes after his did. The CX550 kept going for another hour, didn't care at all. Might have something to do with comparing a postage stamped sized sensor in a large body to one a lot bigger in a thinner body, but hey, these are issues we deal with right? :) The picture quality variation between the CX550 and the NEX-5 is rather amazing, add on a $30 NEX to Canon FD adapter from ebay (Canon FD Lens to SONY NEX-5 NEX-3 NEX-VG10 NEX Adapter (eBay item 320599168158 end time 03-Mar-11 19:27:13 AEDST) : Cameras) and I've been using old FD 200mm and 135mm lenses I have here but quality wise the Sony nex-5 18-55 kit lens on the nex does a decent job. I've never used the pancake lens. I've got some 1080p footage contrasting the NEX-5 and CX550 (the brighter 16:9 footage) against footage recorded in 4:3 with a pretty juicy camera back in 2010 that I'm in the middle of editing, the nonpublic first minute is here FYI > YouTube - Second draft intro 1d. 38 seconds is the NEX-5, 54 seconds is the CX550 with a VCL-DH0758 on step-down rings (hence the black corners), 1:14 (car) + 1:20-23 is the NEX-5 again and 1:24 back to the CX550. For $2-3k I'd take 2 gopros, 2 nex-5's and a Zoom h1 over 1 expensive camera. That said I'm looking at a Nikon D7000 but will likely get the NEX VG10 mmmm.. Next steps are upgrading my hardware now that I have Edius 6, then a Steadicam Merlin so that the NEX footage doesn't give people a headache :) If you can keep peoples faces away from the NEX it looks very good (for a $500 camera) imho > the main shot here YouTube - jameforbes's Channel was done on the CX550 and the cut aways / roving 'in your face' stuff was me waving the NEX about on a tripod. Of note the audio in the Jame Forbes stuff is being picked up on a Zoom h4n, the other stuff you see is via the ECM-SST1 mic on the NEX. The CX550 has 64gb internal memory and I bought a 64gb Sandisk SDXC card for the NEX ($200 -/+ on ebay woot > Sandisk Ultra 64GB SDXC Class 4 Memory Card 15MB/s BNIB (eBay item 230580392161 end time 02-Mar-11 20:05:06 AEDST) : Cameras). Between the two I estimate I could wipe the storage and get a working week of 3-4 hours a day without an issue. Handy part of the NEX is putting it on sports continuous mode and taking 4 or so images per second when you hold the button down, standing across a room with a 135mm lens on it. Means you can get to a conference or similar, and as everyone runs up to the buffet or similar, you hold the button down and then scan the images, rather than wait for 'the perfect moment' in a high energy situation. Unhandy part is you can't take an image whilst recording video ala the CX550 (and something the A55 is worth a look for). The autofocus on the NEX is a bit umm.. average .. I find it keeps settling on my backgrounds and not my subjects (YouTube - shocolatemasters's Channel).. but hey.. for the cost?? LOVE it :) Hope this helps.

January 30th, 2011, 05:10 AM	#5
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	@ George....go to bhphotovideo.com and drill down to the Pro Video Camcorders. Sort them by price. For each one in your price range, look here in DVInfo using the Search and the Main Groupings of threads for the various discussions about them. What you ask has been asked and answered many times over.

January 30th, 2011, 12:35 PM	#7
Erik Norgaard Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 238	Hi: You should consider buying in EU as this will save you from the trouble of paying import tax and give you the EU consumer protection, and in worst case, a plane ticket to the reseller is affordable. I have been buying a lot, although photography stuff, from calumet photo, they are in both US, UK, NL and DE, I have found that the UK shop is the best, is this the one you're looking for? JVC GY-HM100U Compact Hand Held Camcorder - 941-109B - GY HM 100 BR, Erik

January 30th, 2011, 01:49 PM	#8
George Logothetis Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Athens Greece / York UK Posts: 48	Ok, this is advertisement and i didnt ask for it. Thanks to the first replier. If anyone has more opinions feel free to share! Cheers!

January 30th, 2011, 02:24 PM	#9
Erik Norgaard Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 238	Sorry, I did not mean to advertise. I do not represent mentioned seller nor do I receive any benefits from mentioning them here. Only, I have had good experience with this particular reseller. Go out and find alternatives and compare. My point anyway is: You should consider buying from a reseller in the EU, it makes things easier for you with respect to returns and warranty. And also, not mentioned, cameras sold from the US are usually sold with 60i/60p/30p/24p where as in the EU you will find 50i/50p/25p. BR, Erik

February 7th, 2011, 03:50 PM	#10
George Logothetis Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Athens Greece / York UK Posts: 48	hello again! Lets say I should stay in the consumer area for now, what are my options and how much do they cost? As I am not going for professional and instead saving for later, I need a good overall camera not more than 650 pounds. Advice? Cheers

February 9th, 2011, 05:22 AM	#12
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	@George, What you ask has been asked and answered many times over. How is your question different than the many many many many others who ask this? Have you read the http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/open-dv-...uy-thread.html ? Go to bhphotovideo.com or Adorama.com and drill down to the Consumer Video Camcorders. Sort them by price. For each one in your price range, look here in DVInfo using the Search and the Main Groupings of threads for the various discussions about them. There are other websites that have reviews and discussions of consumer camcorders.