Best "budget" camera for Sports & Fast Action? Still CCD?

[azonicbruce]

Finally had my reality check last week shooting my son's soccer game. Up until that point, I was under the impression that only the newer DSLR's had issues with rolling shutter, whereas the newer camcorders that were purposed as dedicated video cameras didn't have the issue as much. Most everything I've shot on the Sony HDR-XR520V must not have been very fast, because I was really taken back by how bad it was at the game. I'm hoping that the way I edited it keeps people not focused on the image quality but rather the action itself:

But, being a video enthusiast, I'm still not quite happy. My main gripes are still the rolling shutter, and the fact that the 250fps slow-motion (a feature I absolutely love) isn't full resolution and is only burst.

So, really, what are the alternatives at this point? At "around" the $5000 price point?

Obviously, I've been eying a Scarlet as a great "solution" to my issues. High framerate, high resolution, high quality image. However, the price point has now crept up into "un-affordable" category for me, plus who knows when it will really be available. This leaves the AF100 and the HMC150 (chime in if you know of other good alternatives).

I'm wondering if the fact that Scarlet and AF100 are still CMOS that I'll still have issues shooting fast action sports?

Would that mean something like the HMC150 would still be the best choice for these types of productions?

In all reality though $5k is still a bit of a stretch. What is really more "affordable" for me has really been in the $1-$2k range. But it seems like there really isn't anything out there for that price. Only up and coming things I can see that maybe the GH2, but again, I have no clue if the the rolling shutter will be improved enough to warrant it good for action sports.

If CCD is still the way to go for action sports, what good choices are there right now or within the next year that will be in the $5k and $1-$2k ranges? I'm willing to wait and save up for the $5k range if there simply are no good alternatives in the lower price ranges.

 

[Barry_Green]

All CMOS cameras on the market have the same rolling shutter issues. Whether you're talking about a t2i or a $400 camcorder, all the way up to the Red Epic or beyond, they all have rolling shutters and therefore have the same issues.
Some have faster readouts than others, and therefore you'll encounter the issue to a lesser degree, but it's still there.

If you want to avoid rolling shutter complications entirely, then you have to avoid CMOS entirely. CCD camcorders will not exhibit any rolling shutter issues because they don't have rolling shutters. The HMC150/HPX170 and the JVC HM100/HM700 are about the last CCD camcorders on the market in the small-chip low-cost arena; everything else has gone CMOS.

 

[azonicbruce]

Thanks for reminding about the JVC, I'd forgotten about that one.

So between the HMC150 and HM100, which one would you recommend as being a better worthwhile investment? My main concern is neither seem to have any overcranking options (at least at 1080), which is that one really nice feature of the sony, even though it's quality is not great. As far as workflow, I don't think either would be a problem, since I'm using CS5 and should be able to edit either one natively.

Just seems like a shame we can't "have it all"... Are CCDs just that much harder/more expensive to manufacture in a larger form factor or are there other complications/disadvantages that have prompted the shift to CMOS?