Best 24p Camera

The cineframe 24 mode on the FX1 and ZU1 camcorders aren't really true HD - they've give an emulation mode of it - which I'm ok with on my FX1 (I use the cineframe 25 due to PAL territory) - but it depends on what you want to use it for - there are various conversion programs out to take interlaced 1080 50i and make 24p.

Pardon, but:

FX1 and Z1U are true High Definition, HDV is just at the lower end of HD, just as DV is at the lower end of SD. And: "Emulation" wrong, HDV does not emulate anything.

The "Cineframe" mode on the Sony cameras (I use a Z1U and love it otherwise) is a joke. You get better results shooting regular and using any of the available "film look" filters.

Also: The original poster asked for 24p to be edited with FCP HD, he did not talk about HD material as far as I can tell...?

In the price class mentioned you look at the Panasonic (DVX100A) and (in some areas of the world it is that cheap by now) Canon XL2. If you want to use FCP for editing your best bet is the Panasonic. I use it a lot and the results are great. It is well-balanced, good manual controls, very robust and reliable, great lens but limited zoom range (at the long end as compared to the Canon XL2), but Century Optics has great wide-angle and tele add-on lenses. You might have a look at www.dvxuser.com to find a lot of information on the DVX and competing products. There have been several reports on severe audio issues with the Canon and FCP.

Cheers,
Uwe

I'd have to agree with Uwe. For the price, you can't go wrong with the Panasonic AGDVX100a. We love ours, and editing in 24p can't be beat.
I've found it for as cheap as 1699 (just the camera - nothing else, but still better than 3000+ ), so if you want I can pass that info on to you. I've used both the XL2 and DVX100a. Panasonic is my pick.
Cheers!

The DVX100"B" is coming out soon too!

Keep in mind the sony HDV compresses the audio. Actually it makes it sound like garbage. We did an indie with a two camera set up(sonyZ1u's) with our audio running to camera A. Once we got it into FCP and started cutting we realized the sound was really compressed. We should have done our home work. But learning the hard way, I can ofter you this... Be prepared to record your audio seperately for a pro semi-pro situation. We look back now and wished we would have done it on the pani.

G52.0DP Mac OS X (10.4.3)

I have a pretty early version of the Panasonic, and for documentary, it is a real workhorse. I've shot nothing but 24p ADV (F6). You should be able to pick one up nowadays – and even throw in a decent shotgun mic or 16:8 anamorphic adapter - for what you stated as a budget.

Tip: Buy two extra 5800 or better batteries. The ones they sell at DVX User are great.

Tip: Always, always use Panasonic, Master Quality DV tapes.

Never, ever put a Sony tape in that camera. Not even once!

Good luck.

why u don't want to put a sony tape in dvx100?

will it stuck or something? or you'll be getting crazy dropframes maybe?

The conventional wisdom is that the panny tape is made for the dvx.

It IS true that MIXING brands of tape stock, which use a variety of lubricants- both wet and dry, can cause a gummy build-up on the heads and tape path.

BUT- since everything else I do in the DV world is DVCAM, that's what I use exclusively in my dvx100a, and after several hundred shooting hours, not so much as a speck of trouble.

Go figure.

I know a guy here (jim cookman) who uses SONY brand tape ALWAYS in his dvx. More robust, he says.

It's not so much which tape as use the SAME tape all the time. For the most part high end tapes use the dry lube now anyway.

CaptM

Oops -- he already responded.

Message was edited by: Captain Mench

Aww... he was thinking of me...