Need some Info on DV cameras
 

Hi there, I have been doing wedding videography for few months now, and I think its time for me to pick up my 2nd camera. At the moment I am shooting with a HVR -V1U. Although I think its a fine camera, it isn't great under low light situations.

Therefore I am looking to see if I can pick up another Video Camera around the 4-5 thousand range that will give me great footage under low light conditions. Also I don't like the focus ring on the V1U so a better one an a different camera would be great.

if you're looking for an SDcamera the PD170 is STILL the king of low light work. Remember though it's not only SD but the 16:9 from the camera isn't exactly what one might call great looking but it can work if you don't mind a slightly out of shape image.
For 4 or 5k you could probably get 3 and still have enough left over for coffee.

In the HD genre, it's my understanding the Z5/Z7 is quite close to the 170 in low light but I have no personal experience with those cameras. I have also heard the PAnny 150 is pretty decent as well but again have no personal experience. BTW that camera is AVCHD, which could change your workflow.

To cut best with the V1, your only real choice is the Z5.

Hi Rishi

I had the same dilemma this year as my SD cams were due for a replacement and I usually trade them in every 24 months. Unless you buy a used model SD are becoming hard to find and very few clients, even in the USA are demanding BluRay so at present all of my work is direct to SD!!! I'm using Panasonic HMC70 series and they work well as also have the necessary "client respect" due to their size. I nearly went for HVR HD1000 Sony's but the dismal low light performance and a single CMOS chip put me off.

You might want to consider doing what I do and getting an HD camera (or two) and simply transcoding your footage back to AVI (Panasonic give you a free MainConcept transcoder which zaps the footage from AVCHD to Widescreen AVI so you don't have to spend money on a new computer as well!! Even on a big screen HDTV it's very difficult to tell the difference between transcoded AVCHD and raw AVCHD rendered down to SD and my brides are certainly happy and I still have the facility to produce a full HD video if I need to and it sorta "future proofs" your business to. AVCHD raw files are pretty compact so I just dump them on an external drive in case a client decides to request a BluRay disk!!

It's a little scary having to forego the security of tape for a little SDHC card but they are just as reliable and a lot easier to use too!!

Chris