video camera suggestions

[Tara]

I'm going to be getting a new video camera soon and wanted to know if anyone had suggestions. I want the video to look best when projected on screens and surfaces during performance, however the price would need to be as low as possible. So suggestions in many price ranges would be ideal as well as something that is able to have a pretty good quality in the dark with a low amount of pixelation. Also if you have had camera's that are good at one thing but not another, it would be helpful if pro's and con's were listed...

I look forward to hearing from you all and hope this is appropriate for the forum as it is my first posting on dance-tech.net.

cheers,
t

[Boris Willis]

Hi Tara,
I use a Sony HDV Camera HDC HC1 1080i. Not sure they make that specific one anymore but I always shoot in HDV and down convert the footage to SD and still get a nice quality image.
Pros
*in good light the picture is amazing
*small but not too small.
*quality lens

Cons
*not fully manual
*bottom loading tape slot
*grainy in low light especially in a theater with lots of black
*expensive
*menu is deep and confusing

Because you are looking to project the image the higher resolution of HDV along with a quality projector will give you a nice image. The projector perhaps more than the camera. It is difficult to get what you are looking for without paying $3000 or more but new cameras are coming out all the time.
Boris