There is a lot of talk about what produces the best picture- CCD or CMOS. Which codec is best for editting. It's hard for me to believe that there such debate when you would think that the video industry would narrow down the options to nothing but the best if for no other reason then they want you to experience the best from their products. I'm not as concern about the picture look as long as it is consistant unlike my old camera that floats between blue and red tones. Nor do I worry about the compression since what I do will probably never reach the big silver screen. I have had the privilage of opperating $40,000 cameras and have to admit that one can get spoiled when there are features, tools and function on a camera that are missed on these little consumer cams.
Do you find yourself searching through specs sheet trying to read past all the BS to get to what is really important. I hate that the specs doen't tell you that the cassette loads from the bottom. I want a consumer grade camera for under $1000 that has everything I expect. Here's what I expect:
zoom control. It needs to go in and out with extreme speed and I want it to make it crawl so slow that the viewer doesn't even realize it. This is hard when the little consumer cams don't allow for manual zoom. The Canon HG10 has a great rocker like zoom instead of this one touch finger action that I've seen on so many other cameras. Infact, I dare to say that the HG10 is better then the GL.
Focus. I would like to have control of the manual focus but that is not been offered in the consumer world that is worth anything. I use my SteadyCamJr with the zoom all the way wide so focusing isn't something that I have to think about. However, locking down the focus to keep it from racking in and out with out your permision is a must.
External Microphone jack. This is a must. I have a $140 wireless from B&H that I use continuesly. I use it enough that I really should consider investing in a better wireless mic system. But, that's for another post.
Headphone jack. It must have a headphone option for reasons that it must have a microphone. Enough said.
Firewire. Now I have only used firewire and don't know what USB offers. I read and hear that firewire is the way to go but I haven't seen that being offered on very many camcorders. So what's the deal? Hopefully my opening statement will assure me that USB is an exceptable connection or why would that be offered over firewire?
3 chip. It is clear that three chip is better. However, the average viewer is more forgiving than the critics of film and video that are here. In either case, 3 chips have been found in some consumer cameras so I know that it exists.
My little Digital8 TRV 103 has it all including lanc. There's only two things that I wish it did. I wished it would allow anolog to pass through and convert to Digital streight to the harddrive. And, I wish it still worked. It's 10 years old and I haven't found a good replacement with out going backwards on the features. There was a replacement that had it all not too long ago. I should have gotten it at Costco but I didn't get it because I was hoping to get an HD version. I don't remember the exact model. I know it was a Panasonic PV-GS. Since then the PV-GS has upgraded (if you call it that) with out those features.
What do you look for in a Camera?
