What's the best camcorder for professional-like movies?

How to tell the resolution of a camcorder?

• im trying to buy a camcorder mainly for shooting movies but dont have enough money to buy the real hi tech stuff so im in the 600-800 dollar range and i would like to have the best picture quailty for this price range, i dont really care for features as much as the picture quailty i know that in digital cameras the resolution is determined by megapixals but it never says it in the camcorders so can any one tell me whats a good camcorder that offers good resolution for this price range or how to tell the resolution for a camcorder? thx very muchy...

• Answer:

  I make a significant portion of my income as a videographer and am certified as an A/V tech. I have produced quite a bit of low-budget commercial video so I am qualified to answer your question. If you want to use an inexpensive camera to produce the highest possible quality programs, then you must be able to separate the fact from the fiction. There are a lot of facts to know but the most important one is this: If the intended audience thinks your production looks and sounds good then it is, in fact, a good production no matter what equipment you used to make it. The audience has the final say on what is acceptable to watch and what they will be willing to pay you to make. Of course you always want to do your best work and have something to be proud of so you should strive constantly to improve your equipment and techniques. But budgets are a reality of life and being able to manage one is an extremely valuable skill. Being able to make the most with the least can be a form of art in my opinion. With these things in mind, you will be pleased to know that DV cam resolution specs mean virtually nothing in the practical world. Manufacturers do publish this info but for the most part it is useless to look it up because nearly all NTSC consumer DV cams shoot and record at basically the same resolution. So these things are really not an issue, especially in the price range under $800. What will matter to you is certain other factors which determine how versatile your camera will be for the intended purpose (making movies). The more versatile the camera the more creative you can be and the less your work will be limited by your equipment. Here are some factors to consider. 1. Manual Controls - You need to be able to turn off the consumer-friendly automatic features and have manual control over as many picture parameters as possible with white balance, focus, and exposure being a minimum. 2. Lens and Filters - A longer built-in optical zoom lens (15X or greater) can make shooting much easier in many situations. And an accessory wide angle lens is invaluable for certain indoor shots. Your camera should accept standard external filters. Neutral density and polarizing filters come in very handy. 3. External Jacks - Headphone and microphone jacks are a must. S-Video and audio in & out jacks can be handy. Digital recording using the IEEE1394 / FireWire / iLink port as an input as well as an output are needed to be able to use the camera to save your edited master from a computer onto a DV tape. You could save your master to DVD but will lose a considerable amount of video quality by doing so. 4. External Control Port - You will benefit greatly by having a camera with a wired remote port such as the LANC jack used on many Sony and Canon cameras. This will allow you to attach a wired remote for zoom, etc. so you do not shake the camera unnecessarily while trying to operate the on-camera controls. These are the four most important factors to consider in my opinion. However, if I only had $800 to spend for this camera I would spend no more than about $300-400 for a used camera on eBay which met my criteria. I would then spend the balance on several inexpensive but invaluable accessories such as: 1. Stabilizing - It is impractical to hand-hold the camera for all shots (especially if you are in them) so a decent fluid-head tripod is a no-brainer. Making smooth motions while carrying the camera is much easier with the use of a counterweight mounting system similiar to Steadicam. You can purchase plans online to build your own DV cam stabilizer for just a few bucks. 2. Power - Batteries never run down except when you most need them. A second charged battery can save you lots of time and money or even save the day. A small power inverter for the car so that the regular AC adapter can be used to power the camera or charge the battery while you are not near AC is cheap insurance as well. The power inverter will be about the same price as a special 12V DC adapter cord for a camera and is much more versatile. 3. Wired Remote Control - A wired remote with zoom and recording control is worth a mint. Fortunately they no longer cost a mint. 4. Lens accessories - Wide angle lens, ND filters, and a polarizing filter are the minimum. Special effects filters are pretty cheap too and work great for certain projects. 5. Audio accessories - Comfortable closed-back headphones, a shotgun microphone on a boom, and a mini audio mixer are essentials. Lavalier mics are quite useful as well. 6. Lighting - You need to think in terms of indoor and outdoor lighting. AC halogen lighting for indoors is a requirement for quality video. A separate battery-powered halogen light can be helpful as well. Outside you will find bounce cards and scrims (or the homemade equivalents) helpful. Here are the factors which to me seem to make the biggest difference in how "professional" a production appears to me: 1. Stable pictures are the sign of a pro. The camera should normally be transparent to the audience. They should easily be able to forget that they are looking at the world through the lens of a camera. Shaking the picture, fast zooms, and improper framing of the subjects are usually just ways to spoil the pleasant illusion of reality for the audience. You shoud think of the camera as a window that you are holding for someone to look through, not at. Make sure if you do any of the listed maneuvers you are doing them on purpose and for a needed effect. 2. Proper lighting is the factor which will make the biggest difference between your video looking like it was mede by a pro or a rank amateur. An inexpensive DV cam can shoot very good video in the correct lighting, but even the best camera will look pretty bad under the wrong lighting. 3. Audio quality is another quick way to separate the pros from the wannabes. Inconsistent or low volume, background noises interfering with the dialog or mood, and camera handling noise are all dead giveaways that someone did not know what they were doing. Fortunately these are pretty easy to prevent if you know what you are doing while the camera is on. Unfortunately, they can be extremely difficult or even impossible to correct after the fact. With all of this said, I will make a camera recommendation. In my opinion some of the best digital camcorders ever made that can be purchased as used in this price range are the Sony Digital8 models CCD-TRV120, CCD-TRV320, and CCD-TRV520. These are very inexpensive now and accessories are widely available at low cost on eBay and elsewhere. They meet all of the requirements I cited above but do record the DV format onto an 8mm tape, which is not normally a disadvantage. Another DV cam which might be considered is the Panasonic PV-GS65 which has 3 CCD's but does only have a 10X optical zoom. You may email me if you have specific questions about what I have told you. Good luck! WK