Canon GL2 or Sony HD camcorder for web video project
I'm about to start a web video project and need to make my year end purchases for tax purposes. The videos will be edited in Final Cut for use on the web - YouTube. They will be shot outside and range from 3-5 minutes edited. I'll want to shoot 16x9. What camera is best for this purpose and yield the best results. Workflow is also important as I want the process to be easy enough to facilitate the daily upload of new videos.
Thanks
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Mac OS X (10.4.3)
Shooting HDV isn't my favorite workflow... read the article about editing HDV in the current issue of the Creative COW magazine:
http://magazine.creativecow.net/index.html
Shooting 16X9 DV would be faster to do IMHO...
That said, all compression is sort of a garbage in/garbage out situation. The better the picture, the better the end product, so it's a tough call in that price range... if you could jump up a bit to a P2 camera, things would be good all around workflow wise... but it's a bit of a jump... the HVX200 is selling for about $5200 or so... plus recording media... but it would more than compete with HDV (in fact it's much better looking to my old eyes) and it renders almost as fast as DV does...
Thanks for the quick response. I'll look for a copy of the magazine this weekend.
$5200 is a bit out of my budget. I'm figuring on around $2k for the camera and I'm sure I'll need accessories (tripod, tapes). I expect the shop will try and sell me on "you need this" accessories. In your opinion, what are the must-have accessories?
Are there other cameras in the sub-$2k price range I should also consider?
A decent fluid head tripod, and a good carring case for the camera... start with just that and see how it goes. Lighting is another story for sure... depends on what and where you're going to shoot.
If you click on the link and register (It's free and you'll never be spammed by the COW) you can download a PDF of the magazine right away.... they'll send you an email to the link for the download.
Awesome. Thanks. That will be very helpful. I have a few friends who do video work professionally, so hoping to bend their ear a bit. Just waiting to hear back from the store on the availability of the GL2.
Could Chris skip over the hard-to-edit HD stuff, staying in SD with a Teranex uprez, until the P2 stuff is in his budget? Shane used Teranex to bring in lowrez stuff into his Blood Diamonds show on History Channel (Dec. 30). The Teranex would continue to be useful after P2.
I thought that the Teranex device would be less costly that the HDV camera, thus saving money. Perhaps I am wrong. Shane and Danny Boy did have their Teranex work done outside, so I think.
You may want to consider and XL2 instead of the GL2. I don't shoot for the web but have heard that 30p produces the best results. The XL2 shoots 30p and also has native 16:9 chips and with the release of the new HD cameras is coming down in price all the time.
I'm actually considering the Panasonic AG-DVX100B. With the rebate, it's about $2500 from BuyDig. I will probably visit a local shop today to see if they'll match that price. I'm also wondering if it's overkill for my project? I guess not, using the garbage in/out philosophy. Although the end result will be a web video, having great quality video will surely have an impact on the final result.
Ah, but will you get great web video from HDV? It has it's Achilles heel, as was said recently by an expert on this forum recently. Hard to edit, 4-1-1, with not much color space, and does not handle motion well.
Why not make do, with DV and a good uprez scheme, until you can afford a good HD, with a 4-2-2 profile?
Isn't the Panasonic DVX100 a DV Cam? I'm a bit confused. Right now, I've been deciding on Canon GL2 or Panny DVX100b. Canon is about 2K, while the Panny is $2600 after rebates. Isn't that straight SD video? I spoke with a good friend who does video for ABC and he recommended I go HD. After reading the article, I think it would adversely affect my workflow. He mentioned that any SD camera would be obsolete in 2-3 years time. I'm still thinking it's best for my project, but not sure if it's worth the jump from the Canon to the Panny.
I wish I had more time to make a decision, but have to decide by tomorrow.
I guess the real question is: Will either of these cameras shoot in a format that is easy enough to bring into FCP, edit, and export into a high quality video in FLV format (YouTube)?
Either the GL2 or the DVX will work well in FCP for what you are doing. The DVX however IMO is worth the extra money because it has better audio with built-in XLR inputs and it shoots 30P. That being said neither of these cameras have native 16:9 chips if that is important to you.