What is the best videocamera (non tape) under $1000

[Nik Manning]

If you are shooting a narrative short movie. Let's say napolean dynamite. What would be the best camera under $1,000 to do it with? final format being 1080p.

[PhilD]

Get the GH1 and keep the money after you sell the kit lens on eBay. That will be around 1000$.

[philiplipetz]

I was thinking of doing this (selling kit lens) and then filming with my Canon FD lenses. I have 50/1.4, 35/2, 28/2.8, 135/2.5. Was thinking of getting either a 20/2.8 or a 24/2. Money is limited. Was wondering if the kit lens money was better spent on Zoom h4n (or record direct to MacBook Pro) and lights plus a simple matt box for ND filters. Have good mics and FCS 2. Target is web teasers and self-help DVD series with book. Previously used HV20 but looking for higher quality. Does selling the lens make sense to you pros? I have noticed that the prime lens videos are much better than the kit lens videos, perhaps because GH1 first corrects for lens defects and then uses whatever power is leftover to max the bit rate.

[SpecialEdFX]

off topic

[Nitsuj]

I can not agree. I think the kit lens is great. There is plenty of stuff out there using just the kit lens. Look at Philip Bloom's first video as an example. I'd rather have the versatility the lens gives me.

Oh and this is a GH1 forum so I'd imagine this might be the wrong place to ask. I think the GH1 is the best bet for $500 more.

[Martti Ekstrand]

Well, if money is super tight this gives you a shallow DOF with any budget camcorder and FD lenses

http://web.me.com/jehug/JAG35.com/Products.html

[Ben_B]

Kit lens is pretty excellent, especially since you won't be able to find (more than likely) a cheap lens @ 14mm at any decently fast speed anyway...although it's true that the kit is somewhat slow.

Also truth be told I'm not sure how big a market there is for the GH!1 kit lens right now...I suppose Ep-1 and G1 users might be interested, but I think you might have a hard time selling it at close to MSRP.

[commanderspike]

I have fallen out of love with the kit lens to be honest. :violin:

- Continuous auto focus is so slow at 1/30 it is almost useless.
- AF tracking isn't available in creative movie mode.
- There is a major quality issue with the zoom ring rubber. I found this on my G1, that the rubber can be stretched and come loose. As the GH1's kit lens is a lot more expensive I had expected Panasonic to fix the zoom grip, but yesterday when I rotated my lens while the camera was fastened to my B-Hague Mini Motion steadicam, the rubber of the zoom grip got stretched and is now pathetically loose!

[philiplipetz]

So if the kit lens is not that good (I thought Philip Bloom used Zeiss Prime lenses for much of his video) and there is not a great aftermarket for kit kens (as was suggested) then is the best under $1000 alternate to order a Japanese body from CommanderSpike on his eBay store? Are there any other countries selling body only packages without time limits on recording length?

I think that my question is entirely on topic because the best under $1000 video may be a GH1 body. That is how it looks to me. Especially since a Canon FD lens costs so little, although there has been a upward trend in prices. The GH1 effect? And since 35mm lens adapters, such as the excellent JAG35, introduce softness to the image.

[PhilD]

There is a major quality issue with the zoom ring rubber. I found this on my G1, that the rubber can be stretched and come loose. As the GH1's kit lens is a lot more expensive I had expected Panasonic to fix the zoom grip, but yesterday when I rotated my lens while the camera was fastened to my B-Hague Mini Motion steadicam, the rubber of the zoom grip got stretched and is now pathetically loose!

I agree, it really sucks when I have to take shots pointing down. I will see if other GH1s are better and if so I'll exchange mine.

[Ben_B]

I agree, it really sucks when I have to take shots pointing down. I will see if other GH1s are better and if so I'll exchange mine.

Are you saying on yours the lens slides out? He was not saying that, he was talking about the grip on the ring. Mine doesn't do that.



- AF tracking isn't available in creative movie mode.


Are you talking about face tracking AF? Works fine for me in creative movie mode. Face recognition doesn't work but face tracking works fine, or at least as fine as autofocus can work...I use it for snorricam type stuff.