Having used a Sony pd170 for the past few years, I now wish to upgrade to HD/native 16/9. I've been told to just go for a Z1, but I'm not sure. Meanwhile I know someone selling a Canon XHA1...
What's the best on the market at that size and that kind of price?
Re: Best "pd170 type" HD camera to buy by David Jones on Jul 6, 2009 at 7:08:28 pm
It might depend on what you're using it for. If you shoot inde-feature or documentary stuff, I'd go for the Sony EX-1. It's 1/2" chips, full-raster 1920X1080 pixel count, and has the same cine features as the high-end cameras. It only shoots in HD on SxS cards.
Re: Best "pd170 type" HD camera to buy by Harry Pallenberg on Jul 6, 2009 at 8:25:50 pm
There is no BEST. Like David said - what are you going to use it for.. ie right tool for the job. Is CMOS ok or will you be encountering flashes and rolling shutter issues? Do you want / need tape still, or are some sort of cards ok? If cards are ok will you be able to offload them on site, or will you need to be able to shoot hours of footage before you get a break (ie cheap SDHC cards vs. P2).
I think the Z1 is done, moved on to Z5 now or EX1 (although I find it a PAIN to handhold and the EX3, also JVC has some cheap SDHC cams one is semi shouldermount and one is TINY, and Panny.... all more that good enough to tell a great story in the hands of the right people.
Thanks,
Harry
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