Best Canon Camcorders
What are the best professional camcorders out on the market?
I’m interested in buying a camcorder at a reasonable price. Some of my friends own the Panasonic HMC 40, HMC150 and the DVX-100A. One friend even told me to purchase the Canon 5D or 7D. But I feel a lot of them are telling me to buy because they own it themselves. Buying something at an extra low price isn’t the issue for me. I just want the best thing out on the market (in terms of image quality and functionality) for less than 10 grand. The purpose would be to shoot small narrative shorts and documentaries. I’ve been doing a bit of my own research and it seems the Panasonic AG-AF101 is pretty amazing. Any suggestions?
(Please, no one-liners and people who don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m looking for comparisons and up-to-date information. Five stars for professional advice. Thanks!)
Hi J.:
Since you’re already familiar with the Canon 5D, here’s a good comparison article/review of the AG-AF101 by Gizmag (with a good video overview by an indie filmmaker + a forum discussion): http://www.gizmag.com/panasonics-ag-af101-dslr-killer/16353/
At least your “under $10k” budget is realistic for a pro-model. Personally, unless I had a prior investment in a bunch of SLR lenses, I’d stay away from a DSLR for documentaries.
DSLR’s are primarily still cameras, not video-making tools nor good audio mixers.
Figure out what computer hardware you plan to edit on, and make sure that whatever storage medium and file-format your planned camera utilizes makes sense. Panasonic pro-cams are great, but if the P2 format entails a lot of extra gear for the editing workflow, it’s pointless. Same goes for any of the current tape formats: you could wear out a camcorder’s heads just logging and transferring your raw video, unless you want to spend thousands on a dedicated playback deck.
Even in the good-used market, I wouldn’t touch a BetacamSP Sony camera unless I already had an $18,000 edit deck (I do). Of course HDV, DVCAM, and miniDV are the current technology, but even there a DV-format transfer deck is good to have for the workflow.
Currently I use a Sony HVR-S270U, which can record DVCAM, miniDV, and CompactFlash cards (and capture both on tape and flashcard simultaneously, for easy workflow). It’s in the same $6K-$8K price range as the AF101 and has Carl Zeiss and Canon lens options, out-the-wazoo. It can also handle up to 4 channels of audio. The included Memory Recording Unit (MRU) is detachable as a standalone solid-state VCR (via FireWire to a computer or edit bay) for instant logging & editing. If I wanted to spring the extra bucks for a lens adapter, I could use any Nikon, Canon, or Sony-alpha SLR/DSLR lens I wanted.
hope this helps,
–Dennis C.
Top 5 Best Canon Camcorders 2011 – New Price And Design
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