Pro Camcorder

[trekiej]

Looking at canon usa, the prices are high.
OEM sites are usually high anyway.
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=172

[Vlabguy1]

You need to look at dealer sites! And the XL2 is with-in your budget.  

Rich
ny

Looking at canon usa, the prices are high.
OEM sites are usually high anyway.
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=172

[trekiej]

The GL2 looks good, but seems to have only a wide angle lens adapter.
Panasonic looks old school.

[oddmario]

Look at the Pan/olymp MicroFourThirds offers.
Cheaper than canon and superior lenses for less bucks.
Lots of videos on youtube where the panasonic especially are close to equal to the 5D II.
In any case if you can wait till Photokina, do that.
Lot of companies are expected to bring out interesting products that will fit your use.

Whatever you do. Take a camera with you at all times.

OP

[Vlabguy1]

I was going to suggest the GL2....Just thought the XL series would offer more options and it is with in your budget.
.. I don't think you can go wrong with the GL2..

ha can you tell I'm a Canon vid. cam fan?? lol
I really like Canon's output as well as the interchangeable lens options with the XL cams.

The audio capture is equally as important as the video footage taken.  Watching a vid. with the audio clipping is a struggle even if its HD..

Rich
ny

The GL2 looks good, but seems to have only a wide angle lens adapter.
Panasonic looks old school.

[Vlabguy1]

dslr HD video capture is nice..but its not a natural way to capture video the way you hold
an slr camera.  Of course they have dslr rigs to make using the camera in video mode more natural..but its just more added gak not too mention it looks a bit cumbersome to get dialed in.  You will get more capture options with a dedicated video camera than you will with a micro 4/3 cam.  With a video camera it helps to have some heft makes for smoother video.  
Course try pricing out a pro level dslr from Canon or Nikon.. ( a couple grand for body only) add the video holding rig(unless you plan to use a tripod for every shot), lens, external mic.. um your now over budget!

Good luck .. read the reviews see the sample clips.. find out what movies/commercial or other pro footage used what cameras.

imo- micro 4/3 = fad..kind of a gimmick..do you have to up size video captured with micro 4/3??  just a question Im not sure.

Rich

Look at the Pan/olymp MicroFourThirds offers.
Cheaper than canon and superior lenses for less bucks.
Lots of videos on youtube where the panasonic especially are close to equal to the 5D II.
In any case if you can wait till Photokina, do that.
Lot of companies are expected to bring out interesting products that will fit your use.

Whatever you do. Take a camera with you at all times.

OP

[trekiej]

I wonder if the DSLR HD video gets warm compared to a camcorder.
I wonder if doing a frame grab would be a decent alternative to having a DSLR?

[Vlabguy1]

Do you mean a frame grab from an HD camcorder?? if thats what you mean then no its not a good alternative.  Your going to get much better quality "still" image from a DSLR than from a an HD vid cam.  Especially since the DSLR shoots in the raw format and gives you a much larger file and many options for editing the image with out loss of quality.

I suppose for an occasional screen grab an HD video camera would be fine, depending on what you actually need from the image captured.  Just saying a dedicated SLR is the best
choice if you need stills..


Not sure about the Dslr getting warm while shooting HD.. my Sigma SD14 does not shoot video..

Rich
ny

I wonder if the DSLR HD video gets warm compared to a camcorder.
I wonder if doing a frame grab would be a decent alternative to having a DSLR?

[trekiej]

I hear in stopmotion animation a dslr can get warm. I am not for sure if that includes video.
So, frame grab is out of the question. lol
I hope the camcorders that can do snapshot while recording are good.
I wish I had the money for the Panasonic 4/3rds camcorder that is comming out this fall.
I believe it is about 6000 U.S. dollars.

[trekiej]

The Canon "eject tape" problem has many people mad at Canon. What do you think Canon will do?

[trekiej]

http://forum.fourthirdsphoto.com/showthread.php?t=45409