camera shopping
 

I work for an energy company. I will be filming training videos and presentations that will be added to our intranet. Is there a prefered camera for this? I have looked at the DVX-100, XL1s, and the JVS streamcorder. After reading a lot of reviews I am drawn to the DVX-100. I read somewhere in here that progressive scan will help with downloading. Plus I am looking for software. I suggested Avid but the powers that be did not like the pricing. I suggested Premier. Would it be worth it to go ahead and the Adobe video package or will 3rd party software work with this.

Shooting progressive is convenient if you want videos over 320X240. Computer displays are progressive so you don't have to spend time de-interlacing footage. You also get increased vertical resolution above 320X240. The canon shoots frame mode which is quasi-progressive.

Software: I like Vegas Video, but I haven't use Premiere Pro (7) yet. Don't bother with Premiere 6.5 and below.

If you don't want to do anything fancy then even a program like Pinnacle Studio could be good enough for you (never used that so don't take my word for it). You could spend the extra money on a dedicated video encoding machine.

Vegas is very easy to learn, and cheaper than Premiere, but just as powerful.

I don't know much about the Streamcorder, and how effective it is, but otherwise, I'd consider the Sony PD150 (or PD170 now).
You probably won't need most of the features of the DVX100.

Thanks
 

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my thread. I want to make the right recommendation. I understand that there are less expensive options out there. I just want a camera that will handle my needs and more. From what I have read the dvx-100 is a great camera. I have always had a desire to learn about shooting and editing. This forum is a great resource. I downloaded the demo for Premier and will try it out. I will look into Vegas.

Well, the DVX100 is a great cam, not sure on how many of the extra features you will use though. Never heard of streamcorder, but an XL-1s would be another pretty good option if you want to go that much. You might want to look into the PD150/170 (which would help you out with XLR adapters, no extra XLR adapter needed) or maybe a GL2.
I use Premier, never used anything else and it suits my needs quite well, but I've heard lots and lots of rave reviews about Vegas.