Hello, I want to make films and want to know what is the best digital camcorder I can buy. I have a budget of about £800-900. Any help would be much appreciated. Lifes ambition and all that hehe. Thanking you in advance.

M

Hi Mandez

Let me answer your questions by asking you a few questions. What kind of films are you planning on making, home movies, wedding videos, commercial/corporate? It is generally agreed on this forum that Mini DV is the format to go for (1CCD or 3CCD is for another post) and use Firewire for your capturing between cam and comp. Windows Movie Maker will give you a good intro to editing and not blow your mind with effects, transitions etc. On the subject of software what do you have already and the same applies to hardware??? It might also be worthwhile looking at video accessories, spare battery, carrying bag, filter to protect the lens these are all things you should look at aswell as the camera. Will you be buring finished DVD's or recording back to tape again? What is your experience level?

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...

I have made films before on borrowed cameras. I have a higher standard E-Mac and am trained on final cut pro. So I have experience with using what I have and have worked with stop frame animation before, I have also entered some short films into competitions and had them screened but when it comes to choosing the camera itself im hopeless. I want something reliable and not too large for making short films. So £800-£900, best there is I guess, as proffessional as there is.
Thank you so much for your help

M

Glad to be of help, I don't own or have ever used an EMac but I have edited on a G4 and G5 and was very happy with the results. Macs make better use of system resources compared to IBM clones (even though I'm using one at the moment). If you are getting good enough results on it then I can't see any reason to upgrade. Are you more interested in getting a 3CCD camera or a 1CCD? If you're looking at 3CCD then look at Panasonics (GS250) or maybe JVC, don't know if you can still pick up a GRX5, or a Sony DCRPC 1000 again 3CCD. From reading that you have already entered film competitions can I assume you look for things like a large optical zoom and manual controls, focus, WB, iris?

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...

3CCD would be nice and manual controls a must (well not a must but would be nice), to experiment with film is the only way to find something new. Thanks for the camersa you have already listed I shall check them out. Manual focus is another must but I do not mind when it comes to zooming but that would be good too. Im not traditional lets say.
Anyway any further help would be great
M

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