Hi, hope you can help me choose the right equipment. I am a member of some local community organisation's and we are looking to upgrade to a new camcorder or pro cam soon. The problem is i dont have a clue where to start in terms of what we are needing for the filming we are going to be doing. We do filimg just now on a fairly basic panasonic mini dv cam but the problem with that is the battery dont last long now. I would rather pull the cash out just now to buy a decent pro cam if its what we need so as not have to buy another down the line when something more high tech is needed. We hope in the future to be holding confrences for the youth so our quality and functions etc would be more of an issue. So what im looking for is some advice on whether to go for something maybe between 1000 - 2000 or would something between say 500 -1000 do us just now and then? Functions i dont know much about. I do a lot of audio editing and know my stuff in that department but video is something i have never had to look into before. I have this maybe silly idea that the whole cam on the shoulder with brollys n big microphones just looks better and i know other organisations doing the same type of filming use that more pro equipment.We film all sorts of stuff that involve running around with camera and interviews outdoors and crowded areas where there is a lot of background noise. Focus,quality,more directed sound recording,reliability,battery life, etc are all an issue with the new 1 we want to get.
I would be so appreciate if someone can put me in the right direction and give me some info on what is best for money and what opinion on what cam we need that will see us through all our filming. Thanks very much
Andy

Hi Simulator. If you want to buy a "pro" camera, then theres plenty about. I am a big fan of the JVC GY-HD110U, which I know sells for around about 2000-3000 quid. So if thats out of your budget, look at the Cannon MiniDV range, which consists of camera such as the XL1s and XL2. Also comming down to the lower end of your budgets there is the SONY HVR-HD1000E, which again is HD.

All the HD cameras can record onto MiniDV which means your editing sytems will not need to be updated. But the advantage is that when you have more money to spend, and the format becoems more popular, all you need to do is upgrade your editing system rather than the whole lot.