Buying new cameras. What to consider?

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burn_your_money

New member
Hi everyone,
I am quite new at this whole filming and editing gig so I would appreciate some advice. We are looking at buying some new cameras and before swiping the card, what things do I need to consider?

At present we have 3 DVX100B cameras and want to go HD. Our editing team consists of 5 Mac stations running FCS but that does fluctuate up to as many as 10 on rare occasions.

Things that I have thought about: (what am I missing?)
storage and access to the media
backup
ingest time
picture quality
budget

We will probably start off with 2 cameras.
The cameras that I am presently considering are the HPX170, HVX200A and HM150U. Obviously there is a big jump in price and quality. I would consider some AVCHD cameras but I read that when they are transferred into FCP using log and transfer that the audio is mixed down into a stereo pair. Is this correct? Is there a way around this?
Pretty much all of our filming is done is Israel (hot/dusty or damp/rainy) depending on the time of year. The other filming is done at churches for special speakers.
Most of the stuff in Israel ends up on YouTube in 5-10 minute clips. Some of it ends up on DVD that can range in time for 30-60 minutes.
Stuff done in churches can be anywhere from 30-90 minutes and will end up on YouTube and/or DVD.

I found some raw footage for the HM100U but couldn't find anything for the other cameras. Does anyone know where I can find some?

I am thinking that the HPX170 is more camera than we need but the HM150U will be lacking. What other cameras should I be thinking about?

One other thing, we need to keep a lot of our footage accessible for b-roll, what is the "best" method for organizing those files? Presently we've just been creating descriptive file names and using Finder to locate the files but I'm thinking there is a more efficient way out there.

Is this post in the right place?

Thanks
 
I really like my HPX170. It is great for sports and documentary stuff and is a capable tool for making narrative films as well, though you would probably want something that can achieve a shallow depth of field in certain shots. I also use a Canon 5D Mark II for precisely that purpose. You might want to consider waiting until November 3 when both Red and Canon will be making big announcements before investing in new equipment though.
 
I have had the DVX's, I still have the HXV 200 and I have 2 HPX 170's. However the camera that I am really liking that I also bought recently is the Canon XF105.
It is small in size, easy to use, it is broadcast quality and it records to CF cards which are a lot cheaper than the P2 cards. There is also Canon XF100 is basically the same camera for 1,000 dollars less. Phillip Bloom has a nice review of the canon cameras. for your use I think they would be a good choice to consider.
The 105 has these Product Highlights
1/3" CMOS Sensor
50Mbps MPEG-2 Recording
4:2:2 Color Sampling
60p/60i, 30p, 24p
MXF File Format
Dual CF Card Slots
10x HD Zoom Lens
Multiple Bit Rates & Resolutions
Dual XLR Inputs
HD/SD-SDI, SMPTE Time Code, Genlock
 
Thanks for both of your replies.

J.D. said:
There is also Canon XF100
Click to expand...

I checked out this camera and the specs looked really good but then I saw some footage on YouTube and I wasn't really impressed.

If we look at the first 9 seconds of this clip in full screen 720p you'll probably get motion sick. I know that this is a horrible example of filming in general but is what I am seeing what is referred to as rolling shutter which is caused by CMOS chips, especially in situations where there is only 1 like on the XF100?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVibt5SneeU&feature=related
A lot of our footage uses pans and all the pans I saw on YouTube had the above issue, but not as bad.
 
HorseFilms said:
HMC150 is a great camera that uses CCDs, so no rolling shutter.
Click to expand...

Wow, I don't know how I missed that one in my searching. Thank you.

I'm still a little confused about L&T in FCP with AVCHD. If you use both XLRs for lav mics, will the audio be mixed together so you can't adjust the volume of mic #1 in post without also adjusting mic#2 an equal amount or is it just turned into a stereo pair and once you separate them they are 2 unique tracks like with the DVX?
 
burn_your_money said:
If you use both XLRs for lav mics, will the audio be mixed together so you can't adjust the volume of mic #1 in post without also adjusting mic#2 an equal amount or is it just turned into a stereo pair and once you separate them they are 2 unique tracks like with the DVX?
Click to expand...

That one.
 
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