Im looking for a good digital video cam with many manual controls. Any suggestions?

Question

I have lots of experience with DSLRs and manual control and want a similar experience when shooting video.
Specifically, I want to be able to control the aperture, focus and shutter speed. I don't have much money but I am willing to plop down whatever is necessary to get a camera with these features. Thanks for your suggestions.

Answer 1

That is not true. Although many cams nowadays are auto, it's the ones in the consumer range. If you dish out the $1,500+ to get a pro camera, then you will get the functions. The same applies for digital still cameras. You won't see a $100 10MP DSLR anytime soon. I have a canon GL2, which I got off of eBay, used, for $1500. It is a great camera, with a 20x fluorite lens (non-interchangeable, 58mm diameter, optical stabilization), 3 1/4 inch 410k CCDs, manual focus, aperture (f 1.6-8.0, 19 steps of control), manual shutter (1/8-1/15,000), gain adjustment (0,6,12,18 Db), and built-in ND filter. Although it is not HD, it is an incredible camera capable of producing great pictures, and will lend great results when upconverted to HD. If you would like the option of interchangeable lenses for around $1500, the canon XL1 is a good choice. It is a great camera, however, it is about 10 years old, fairly big, and has 3 1/3 inch 270k ccds. Although the bigger CCDs are a plus for low light, considering its pixel count and age, probably won't give the greatest results you would expect from a 1/3 incher, although the quality should be similar or slightly better than the GL2. For anything under $1000, go with the upper end of Panasonic's pv-gs series. The pv-gs300 and 500 are both good, although the 300 doesn't have a focus ring, and of course, you will get substantially less adjustments compared to the GL2 or anything in that price range. If you do happen to find one on eBay, get the pv-gs400 instead of the 300 or 500. It has a lot of the features of the GL2, for several hundred dollars less. And finally, if you have the money to go for a good HDV camera, get the XH-A1 or the HVX200. The XH-A1 costs around $4,000 and is an HDV cam, and basically is an upgrade of the GL2 in terms of body design, but the features and quality are similar to that of the XL-H1, canon's top of the line HDV camera going for around $9,000. The HVX200 costs $6,000, and the P2 cards it uses cost about $1,000 each, but it records DVCPRO HD instead of HDV, for better picture quality. Both of these cameras offer great manual functions (pretty much all the ones I listed for the GL2), and the HVX200 has an option of variable frame rates, so you can create slow- or fast- motion effects, or shoot in 24/30p. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

I love the Canon HV40, but it uses MiniDV tape to record HDV video - and that's exactly why I like it so much. HDV on MiniDV tape is still a very strong format, arguably better (and easier to work with, both compatibility-wise and compression-wise) than the HDD and flash memory formats. It is a tape, yes, but you CAN transfer it to your computer - use a FireWire cable from your camera to your computer. If you have a FireWire port on your computer (some do, some don't), you're all set. Even if you don't have a port, do you have any kind of expansion card slot? If so, you can install a FireWire card. If one way or another, you can get FireWire on your computer, tape becomes an option, and a VERY strong one at that. Beyond that, it has manual zoom, focus, iris, shutter, even manual audio leveling and a microphone jack. Great little machine.

Answer 3

Technoly has changed in last few years, you will not find any new cam with many manual control. Believe me the new digicams are good and you will not regret even the auto features are more. Go for any NIKON cam as you can afford.