looking for advice on video camera upgrade

N

nitrobandit1

New member
hi guys, im very new to this field, but will tell you what ive done and what im looking for. I bought a Panasonic hdc-700k for doing video shooting at drag racing events. very loud and fast moving video. I love the camera, but found the noise from the cars shuts the camera off if recording onto the hard drive, and it needed a better mike due to the 120db plus noise levels. once I got that figured out by recording onto the sd card, the only problem I have is shooting at night is a big grainy, and the camera doesn't process the night movies very well. ive looked at the more professional Panasonic cameras, and it almost seems like taking a step back. most are 60i instead of 60p, and they appear to have more features, but it looks like the 700 was a awesome camera for the money! you cannot beat the picture quality, and I already had to buy a new computer to process and edit, as well as a dvd copier for it, a new tv to watch it, and a new blue ray to play it! I know this is normal progresson, but ive invested a lot, but have found some things I would like to make the video look a little better and more professional. heres some samples of the on track videos ive took for you to grade http://www.youtube.com/user/egates17/videos of my friends car, and here is my utube channel of some of my stuff http://www.youtube.com/user/mrnitrobandit1/videos I would like some constructive critism of what features I might be looking for, and possible cameras to look at. I call bandh and they were of no help at all. you can also email me at nitrobandit1@yahoo.com for direct contact. ive made body arches for the camera to mount to steady it, and am considering getting the sony video editor pro also. any ideas? I would like to stay with avchd format if possible if that's a good idea? thanks for any input on any of these topics, dan
 
This was shot with a Panasonic AC160 at 30p: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYpwapd-IEg

You can see what the picture quality of a 1/3" chip camera might look like in the dark, however, I wouldn't recommend the Panny for fast action racing as the autofocus isn't up to the job. Depending on how much you want to spend, you may want to look into a Canon camera that has a more robust autofocus feature, like the XA20, XF100, or XF300. I shot the same event this year with a Canon G20 handycam, and the quality was very similar to the larger Panasonic, but I was a little more drunk so the footage wasn't quite as good ;)

One recommendation I have is using some sort of stabilizing device, be it a monopod, tripod or whatever. It will help bring up the production quality more than any fancy camera. Let me know if you have more questions, I think I understand what you're going for here.
 
camera thoughts

camera thoughts

thanks for the reply. you know what im looking for too! those look like some reasonably priced options for me. I was hoping Panasonic would filter some of the tech to the other cameras they make, but in the few years since I got this one, they have pretty much stayed the same. I guess they were waiting for everybody to catch up, and I would say that has happened! I was going to try and contact nitroamerica to see what type of cameras he is using now. the Jackson bros are still using 8mm tape last I talked to them also. im going to look to see what I can find out there. I was also thinking of trying to get a remote operated camera setup too, been looking into that. dan
 
Boy are those cars fast on a pan move! the new AG-AC8 can do 60P and is supposed to have an amazing new sensor in low light! comes with a free stereo mic too. usually for what you're doing would require an external mic and a recorder than can handle clipping. the microphone can't do so much about clipping. signal to noise ratio on the recorder makes a difference.
 
thought about buying a 4k camera, but the storage for the video will be ridiculous expensive. I am open for a 2-3k at the most with hopefully a few more adjustments than I have now. would like to keep it avchd with sd cards.(cheap storage) 1080p and 60fps also. just wondering how the cmos chips seem to affect low light abilities. btw the rode mike I bought for my Panasonic proved to be perfect and the loud sound is manageable and sounds correct. awesome on a surround sound! someone suggested a Panasonic ag ac8pj and that looks like a great camera for about 1200.00.
 
nitrobandit1 said:
thought about buying a 4k camera, but the storage for the video will be ridiculous expensive. I am open for a 2-3k at the most with hopefully a few more adjustments than I have now. would like to keep it avchd with sd cards.(cheap storage) 1080p and 60fps also. just wondering how the cmos chips seem to affect low light abilities. btw the rode mike I bought for my Panasonic proved to be perfect and the loud sound is manageable and sounds correct. awesome on a surround sound! someone suggested a Panasonic ag ac8pj and that looks like a great camera for about 1200.00.
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your Rode mic sounds like a nice add on to the AG-AC8. It also has 3 level zoom adjustment and sensitivity options. A fast zoom would be nice for drag close ups if you can follow them in frame. Full HD 60p with slow mo option in post with 1080 lines of rez is good. No need for 4k yet unless you plan continually view it on 4k or if you really want to share 4k on YouTube. I say wait on 4k until its cheaper. Looking forward to your shoots
 
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