What are the cheaper HD camcorders that can record in 1080/30p ?

Question

What are the cheaper high-definition camcorders that can record in 1080/30p ?

Answer 1

Wow! If only we lived in a perfect world. There would be no wars, no starving children, sunny skies all the time....and cost effective 1080p camcorders.

Sorry, but cheap 1080p HD camcorders do not exist in the universe we occupy. Maybe five years down the road they will. But you can expect to cough up at least 4 Grand for a 1080p camcorder. If you've got that kind of cash to throw around...more power to ya! But, if you're looking for a 1080p camcorder, I assume you must have a 1080p television and money isn't a problem. Go with the Sony HVR-Z1U.

Answer 2

Wow! If only we lived in a perfect world. There would be no wars, no starving children, sunny skies all the time....and you could get 1080p cameras for $4000.

Right now the only HD cams you will see are 720p or 1080i, even into the thousands. 1080p is still an extremely expensive format, and most of these cams cost well over $60,000. An exception to the rule is the HVX200, which is the only camera I know of that capture 1080p for so cheap. Its $6000 (so youll have to spend $2000 more) and records to P2 cards in DVCPRO HD at a rate of 100m/bits per second instead of 25 m/bits of DV. Most of the "cheap" HD cams out there (cheap as in under $10,000) use HDV, which only suppports 720p or 1080i in MPEG-2 compression. So to answer your question, there are no cheaper 1080p (if you mean cheaper as in several hundred to couple thousand bucks). But what you can get if you pay about $4000 is 1080i with 24p or 30p frame settings. Basically its the same thing as if you had a 60i DV camera and set the frame rate to 24p. So instead of actually recording 24 or 30 separate frames for 1080p, it uses the good ol' 3:2 pulldown to convert the 24p to 60i (or in the case of 30p, nothing). But 1080p footage is huge, and the storage needs are immense as well, so even if there was a cheap 1080p cam you would have to make sure your computer was up to it to edit and output it. (HDV as well). Personally, if you want the true progressive look, I think 720p is probably a better way to go because its smaller for easier handling, and is still progressive. Hope this helps!