Recommendation for entry level cam

[rugrats]

A Canon HF100 is pretty good if you can get one cheap.

Hi Reportage,

I wonder if there are differences in the Canon products found in US? I might get one from US and should I be aware of anything? I don't want to buy something from US and it turns out that I can't use it in Singapore. Like power requirements, etcs?

 

[magicdragon]

US camcorders are usually NTSC versions with 24p not 25p. You will have ficker issues when shooting indoor with lights as well (different frequency 50 cycles per second in Singapore and 60 cycles per second in US). There are some stores in the US that sell PAL camcorders but warranty is usually provided by the store and PAL camcorders are usually more expensive than the equivalent NTSC version (why? I don't know). The you'll have to ship it to singapore and pay GST at 7%. You do the math and see if it makes sense to you. If it does then go ahead.

 

[rugrats]

US camcorders are usually NTSC versions with 24p not 25p. You will have ficker issues when shooting indoor with lights as well (different frequency 50 cycles per second in Singapore and 60 cycles per second in US). There are some stores in the US that sell PAL camcorders but warranty is usually provided by the store and PAL camcorders are usually more expensive than the equivalent NTSC version (why? I don't know). The you'll have to ship it to singapore and pay GST at 7%. You do the math and see if it makes sense to you. If it does then go ahead.

Thanks bro! I saw a Canon HF100 for 500 USD. I thought I could buy but after what you said I have to think it through.

 

[Reportage]

US camcorders are usually NTSC versions with 24p not 25p. You will have ficker issues when shooting indoor with lights as well (different frequency 50 cycles per second in Singapore and 60 cycles per second in US). There are some stores in the US that sell PAL camcorders but warranty is usually provided by the store and PAL camcorders are usually more expensive than the equivalent NTSC version (why? I don't know). The you'll have to ship it to singapore and pay GST at 7%. You do the math and see if it makes sense to you. If it does then go ahead.

very simple. just set to shutter priority of 1/50 to match the light flickering if any.

NTSC and PAL used to be very different but depends where the video is broadcast. For TV, no issue when the viewer is using multisystem tv and for online viewing most websites convert to their own format. I often convert to mpeg2 and then to dvd if needed since hdds are freaking cheap nowadays.

convert the US$500 + shipping + 7% GST and then compare to Courts/ Harvey Norman or even any photo shop price what you can get for the same price and then decide whether worth or not. The tradeoff is no local warranty but to me no issue since i know what i am doing.

 

[magicdragon]

What software would you recommend for a Mac then?

Unfortunately from what I understand so far, Final Cut Studio (ouch) is the way to go. It's expensive and I cant afford it myself.

I suggest you stick to HDV format for now. Get a secondhand Canon HV20 or HV30 (HV40 is too new to fit in your budget). Or for SD (Standard Defination) get the Panasonic NV-GS400. All of them are tape based. The idea of film making is to think in photo shots 24 frames per second. Keep your movies short for now - 5 mins. Have a script - what is it you want to say. Then think on the angles - low angle, close up and track back, open onto a off focus and pull focus etc. Keep the sun to you back or if you must sidelight. And you must really use a tripod. I can't stress this enough. No tripod and your video is gonna come out with shakes. Also don't try to zoom in and out too much. Zoom only if it adds to the scene. Otherwise stop recording and walk to the subject and start shooting again. Think of the right angle in the first place. Then experiment and question everthing you read including what you read in my post! I'm a photographer trying to thing in cinema mode. My brain is having difficulty adjusting

You can edit even in iMovie HD 06 onwards. Final Cut Express is next step up but you should really wait on next gen of FCE -if you want to get more professional editing tools. But first max out iMovie's features. You'll realize that 1 hour of footage may take you days to edit.

Your Macbook Pro should be able to handle editing of tape based camcorders very well. Just remember the settings - 25fps and HDV1080i for HDV tape-based camcorder (for PAL camcorders). I suggest you stay away from generally cheaper NTSC camcorders cos you'll have issues - software (pulldown) and flicker.