A littla advice on digital cameras needed..

[fergal]

Hello there, im looking for a bit of advice here. Im on the market for a digital camera unfortunately of fortunately (whichever way you look at it)there seems to be so much to choose from that i get all confused and flustered. The thing is i already have a Hi-8 camcorder but i think its time i went digital.I hear mini dv is very good , Then i heard about something called digi-beta but methinks that may be quite expensive.?? i hope to make many short films with this camera..im a wannabe independent filmaker whos 21 years old and went and dropped put of my two year history degreeto make a start on this film malarkey.I dont have a terribly large amount of money but im working pretty hard at the moment to save up for a camera. BASICALLY what id like to ask you guys is this..I cant afford really high end equipment but what wpuld be the best buy for me digital videocamera wise.. I reall want a nice digital videocamera and im just a little lost at the moment. I would be so grateful for any advice .I have my eye on the Panasonic NV-GS400. tHAT would set me back about 1,400 euros and i could stretch to that but if anyone knows of a camera cheaper than that which would be as good as then that would be great. I think it ought to be 3cc and have manual features as well as a mic in socket and decent image stabilization capabilities...

 

[DAS19]

IMO 3 CCD is a must. I bought a hand held 3CCD open box for 250 american dollars. So there are deals out there. Panasonic cameras are very nice. What I would suggest is getting a good handheld for a good price and then save up over time and buy that really good camera like an hd camera the new one from sony looks really really nice. Plus once your done with shorts and starting up your gonna end up renting a film camera if your doing a long or even high end short feature soo you think about what best suits your needs for you.

Dave

PS - Get back into school or take a class somewhere some workshops are very cheap. Ask to intern at a nearby production company or even a company doing weddings just to get expiernece. Right now im in highschool and I took advantage of Tech Carrear Training classes at a nearby school and the teacher is a great guy whos a college professor and has a production company that is going to hire me becuase im doing so well in his class. Oppertunities are out there you just have to make them happen. Oh yeah read lots and lots of books.