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General discussion

Good low-light pro-quality cheaper camcorder?

Jun 11, 2005 4:57PM PDT

Hey everybody,
I am looking for a camera for making some amatuer short movies/documentaries with friends, but i don't want to pay too much as I am just starting out. I obviosuly want the video to be as high-quality as possible, and I have heard that what you need for this is good low-light quality, which means big ccd size. I was originially going to get the Canon Elura 70, which seemed like a good camera to me, but I have since found out that camcorders in this price range have poor low-light quality. I am willing to pay more, but I just need something high-quality to do the job, without spending thousands.

Other things which wound be a bonus to me are:
-plenty of inputs/outputs (AV input, mic input, headphone output)
-plenty of manual options to play around with

*Does anyone have any recommendations?*

Things that I have been looking into are the sony HC90 and the 3CCD Panasonic range. Has anyone had any experience with these?

thanks in advance for any help.

Discussion is locked

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low light
Jun 12, 2005 2:07AM PDT

The best one out there under $1000 is the HC90 for low light.
It lacks some options that you are looking for.
It does not have mic input, but it does have a hot shoe for Sony mics.
It does not have headphone out.
It does not have some of the manual controls that the 3ccd Panasonics have.
The Panasonics are not very good when the lights are low, but they have the manual features you are looking for.
If you want excellent quality video in low light and the manual options, you would have to step up to the $2000 range.

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hc90 the only choice?
Jun 12, 2005 3:16PM PDT

Yeah, i love the video quality of the HC90, compared to for example the panny gs150. Is there no other camcorder with similar price that has the same video quality as the hc90, but with more inputs/ouputs?
thanks for the help =)

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Sony
Jun 13, 2005 5:28AM PDT

In my opinion, you are not going to match the quality of the HC90 for indoor and outdoor usage for under $1500.
You can get more manual controls and inputs with another camcorder, but you will sacrifice the quality of video.

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Good low-light pro-quality cheaper camcorder?
Jun 13, 2005 5:32AM PDT
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need advice
Jun 13, 2005 4:08PM PDT

hey thx heaps for the help. The panasonic camea looks rather nice, but I am in New Zealand so I am looking for a camcorder that has a PAL version, and also I want to get a camcorder that I can get in a shop here for safety.
Has anyone used the Canon mvx350i? (Not sure of the ntsc equivalent)

So I need some advice:
Is it better to get the HC90 with superb low-light and image quality, or get a camera with average image quality, although probably the same in bright light, which also has a lot more input/outputs and manual options. Can anyone with experience please help me?

I have been on the verge of getting the HC90 because I love the image quality, but I keep remembering tht I will not be able to use a handheld mic, which is something i am probably going to need to do.

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need advice
Jun 14, 2005 2:52AM PDT

Check the Panasonic web site they may make a PAL version of that camera. John