NTSC vs. PAL DVX?

[fingers515]

Long time viewer, 1st time poster.

My decision to buy a DVX has been made, BUT, I've heard a few opinions that PAL is the way to go, even though I'm in the U.S. of NTSC. I'd like a few more opinions on this.

From what I've gathered, PAL gives better resolution, more lines. 25P is virtually the same as 24P. No Drop Frame in PAL. BUT...harder to find equipment. More expensive. Worst of all, No cool free goodies that come with buying a new NTSC DVX, BUT again, better resolution.

I'm still undecided about my ultimate target media for final output - DVD, internet, film, BUT, from what I understand, there are programs, Atlantis being one, that can handle the conversions pretty easily. I do know that in his book, Digital Moviemaking, Scott Billups is a big advocate of PAL, BUT, he's got alot more resources ($) than I do.

Any and all input would be greatly appreciated!

Hmm. After proofreading my post, it would seem that I like big BUTs.

Thanks all.

 

[moebius]

I live in PAL-land and bought an NTSC DVX because all I do ends up on DVD and NTSC DVDs easily play on every PAL player but very few NTSC players can handle PAL. Also I found that conversion really is a game of luck. Depending on the footage you can either have a converted file that looks almost exactly like the original or you can get a blurry flickering mess that causes everyone a headache. I shoot mostly sports with lots of fast movements and converting that almost always ends in very poor quality. I guess it all comes down to the final destination of your footage.