Question by Hiram Kix: What camera would you recommend for a wannabe filmmaker on a budget?
400-500 dollars, what would be the best camera for a wannabe filmmaker just getting into the hobby?
And when I say camera, I mean camcorder. Oops.
What computer specs would I need to handle video from a Canon GL-1?
Best answer:
Answer by Scott
You are right at where a good used pro-sumer camera like the Canon GL-1 sells for on e-Bay and the other auction-sale sites. Be picky. Know what a new battery costs.
Canon is still selling a MiniDv entry level camera, the ZR960, New, it is about $ 300.
So, your next question is likely “What about HD?”…simply put…it isn’t.
The best HD resolution settings gets 11 gigs/ hour of video. MiniDv standard def gets 13 gigs/hour. That is 15% MORE data for a frame that is 1/6th the size. HD is highly compressed, poor choice for action and really turns blocky when compressed further in editing.
MiniDv has very low compression, and Zero compression in the important brightness channel. Standard MiniDv can be up-converted to the HD frame size and STILL have less overall compression!
Due to the high data rates, you will need a little more horsepower with your computer, Firewire is required. Life is more enjoyable with Lots of RAM and multi-core processors.
Read up on the formats, quality wise they go HD, DV and HDV. Both DV and HDV are digital MiniDv tape for any camera under $ 5000.
I loved my GL-1, used of of e-Bay, and the only reason I upgraded to the GL-2 was GL-1s don’t like to swim.
EDIT: Additional details.
I did a lot of editing with a single, mid 2’s (2.4 Ghz and 2.6) processor (Both intel and AMD), 4 gigs RAM, and WinXP 32 bit with a 128mb video card. And the required firewire was on the MOBO. Both were essentially off the shelf HP computers other than I added the maximum RAM.
It can be done, but to transcode an hour of video and burn a DVD was an over-nite process.
My new computer is an i7, on an intell MOBO with 16 gigs RAM, Win7 64bit, and 2 TB Raid 0 for the video storage. DVDs take be about 15 min, 25 GB of Blu-Ray takes about 50 min.
With the Blu-Ray burner, I have been upconverting the DV to H.264 with the 1080i frame size. On my little 38” TV it looks like you can step into the picture and is much better quality than any HD camera will produce, especially in fast action.
The thing is, the GL-1 is a fantastic camera, but it is the older version of the GL-2 and a lot of people simply do not understand the formats, or just do not want to deal with tapes. In the prices you mentioned, you may be able to find a GL-2, which has a little better resolution, and adds easier adjustment of audio. The 20X optical zoom is a Canon “L” lens that equates to something around 700mm in the 35mm film world. Sony, Panasonic, JVC also make comparable cameras and would be an equally good start.
I have been pleased with Canon servise and support, and have had no reason to contact the others.
If interested, watch the auctions for a while, get a feel for price, condition, and feedback. It is amazing to me how many people will get one of these high-end cameras for a single trip or event, then sell it after a project is done.
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