Question by C.: For Independent Filmmakers: Sony HDR- Fx7, Canon t2i or Canon Vixia hf s21?
I’m a young independent filmmaker and my budget is extremely low. I am looking to buy the sony fx7, the canon t2i, or the canon hf s21. I was wondering if the fx7 is worth the price. If not, then I will have to go with the other two.
Best answer:
Answer by Little Dog
It depends.
1) If you have no low-light shots, then all three are fine. If you have any low light shots, the FX7 is probably the best of the three.
2) If you are recording audio to the camera, then the FX7 or the HF S series (I prefer the HF S100). If you are recording the audio to an audio field recorder, then the T2i – assuming you have a selection of lenses. Otherwise, the FX7.
It isn’t that the HF S21 is a bad camcorder – it is a good, consumer grade, camcorder with very few easily accessible manual controls on the outside of the camcorder. It’s medium lens, high compression AVCHD MTS files and small single CMOS chip are great – for a mid-range consumer camcorder. The FX7 is a prosumer camcorder with all the regularly accessed manual controls on the outside of the camcorder not buried in a menu and shared through a single external thumbwheel (like the HF S21). The T2i is first a digital still camera – that (secondarily) happens to capture high definition video as a convenience feature.
This does not mean the T2i takes poor video – far from it… it takes great video if it is used – like any other equipment – within its capabilities. Stray from the defined capabilities and design and expect issues.
All this said, we do not know what you are planning to edit on (computer hardware) or with (video editing application). If the computer hardware and operating system are not capable of using a firewire connection, then the FX7 will impossible. Getitng the HDV format video from the miniDV tape to the cmputer means using a firewire cable (not USB) to connect the FX7’s DV port (not USB) to the computer’s firewire port (not USB).
If the computer hardware and software are not capable of dealing with AVCHD/MTS files or MOV files, then the HF S21 and T2i will be problematic.
In either case, it you are using pro-grade XLR mics with any of these cams using a 1/8″ (3.5mm) stereo audio-in jack and are planning to use the camcorder for recording the audio, too, you will need an XLR adapter. juicedLink and BeachTek are the typical suspects…
What do you think? Answer below!