Your comments are bolded - my opinions are not...
the cam must have manual controls for iris, shutter, focus and white balance and mic inputs if possible XLR. These manual controls are very handy - but your using them will really depend on what you are capturing and why. Also, most camcorders have these manual controls - they just aren't easy to use or get to. XLR mic inputs are nice to have - but I am not aware of any consumer machines with them. Using something like a BeachTek XLR adapter is more likely... but only if you use XLR mics... Be sure the camcorder has a 1/8 inch mic-in jack.
that HD contains too many pixels which means a big file. HD sucks under low-lighting conditions. High Definition video does end up using 3-4 times more hard drive space on your computer when that video winds up on your computer's hard drive for editing - yes... I agree it can make for big files. That is neither good or bad - it just is. If you don't have room, get another drive. External FireWire drives are great. Define "low light". Yes, it can get grainy - just like many standard def camcorders. See the various band videos at myspace.com/smallbull - They were shot in bars and one might normally consider the lighting low - but the stage lighting allowed for adequate capture of the bands - so... what is "low light". A single CMOS 1080i Sony HDR-HC1 was used for video capture...
CCD is better than CMOS in low lighting conditions. bigger the size of the chip better the quality. In CCD each frame is a full image but in CMOS the data is recorded based on the motion of the subject in that particular frame. Some would argure the CMOS is btter than CCD. Frankly, for most folks, if the chips - whether CMOS or CCD - have the same surface area, they will take approximately the same quality video...
A cam that dosen't support Fire wire(720x480) but just USB would have an output of only 320x240 during the capture. I disagree. Hard drive based camcorders do not normally support FireWire, but have adequate quality. I have not yet seen a miniDV tape camcorder currently on the market that does not support FireWire... Maybe I lead a sheltered life.
based on these facts i did some browsing and found very few cameras(<$1000) which seem to have all or at least almost all features. one is the highly rated PV-GS400 (oddly better than the GS500).It has almost all the features mentioned above. If you can find a new, under warranty, in the box, Panasonic PPV-GS400, get it. Good camera. So is the PV GS-500.
Since the cam was released years back, there must have been developments in the <$1000 section(or is this still the best one). Could someone help me on this please? Check out camcorderinfo.com - and consider reading through the Camcorder Forum sticky for additional tips on hunting for your perfect camcorder.
I read from older posts on suggestions for a new camera. So i have collected this much.
the cam must have manual controls for iris, shutter, focus and white balance and mic inputs if possible XLR.
that DVD is not the best medium for recording.
that HD contains too many pixels which means a big file. HD sucks under low-lighting conditions.
CCD is better than CMOS in low lighting conditions. bigger the size of the chip better the quality. In CCD each frame is a full image but in CMOS the data is recorded based on the motion of the subject in that particular frame.
A cam that dosen't support Fire wire(720x480) but just USB would have an output of only 320x240 during the capture.
based on these facts i did some browsing and found very few cameras(<$1000) which seem to have all or at least almost all features. one is the highly rated PV-GS400 (oddly better than the GS500).It has almost all the features mentioned above.
Since the cam was released years back, there must have been developments in the <$1000 section(or is this still the best one). Could someone help me on this please?
Thanks
loku
Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic