I have found both of these for ridiculously good prices on www.bestpricecameras.com. I am partial already to Canon because all of my still cameras are Canon and would then have the luxury of interchangeable lenses. Also, the kicker for both of them is that they both are capable of shooting 24 fps. That's key for me. But, didn't know if anyone out here had any knowledge/preferences or generally useful information for me about them.



Canon XL2



Panasonic AG-DVX100

Are you going to use a plastic bag when filming underwater?

haha. nice. What, are you taking comm tips form Ayah now?

Until funds permit, there will be no underwater filming. Just a dream.

These are both mini-DV tapes, right? Is there any reason why you aren't thinking of going fully digital?

Yes, they're miniDV tapes (or DVCAM). I am not sure what you mean by fully digital. Do you mean getting a camera that has just the card, like the SLR would?

Not 100% sure why exactly I prefer the tape to the memory card, but I kind of just do. Besides that, I don't know of any prosumer camera like this that is fully digital that has the 24p capability. If you know of one, I am definitely interested in your suggestion. Also, for school, I am required to have things on tape so I can hand it in to the profs. I guess it's their method of choice. They also want it so I can write timecode, etc. on it so that other classes can use some my projects for editing purposes.

melissa, you really could try being a little nicer, you know.

outside of future aquatic adventures, what are you interested in shooting?
documentaries? video journalism?

i'm being halfway sincere and interested and the only way i'd come back with anything is if you said music videos.

Definitely NOT music videos.

Well, here's my first interest: documentaries. 30p is totally fine for that. However, I have a handful of ideas and some quality writers at my disposal and would love to do some drama films as well. Because of that, instead of lighting the hell out of a 30p camera, I would prefer to have one that shoots 24p to get a more cinematic look. To be honest, since my shooting has been so limited up to now, I don't know which area I will excel in the most. The styles are so different from cinematic vs. doc. so it's hard to know.

The other thing that is tough is that my strongest documentary desire is toward nature docs (Discovery, National Geographic, etc.) However, on the amateur level, I find that to be a lot less likely than an academic/researchable topic that is more accessible (Emmitt Till, the advent of the "private school" circa desegregation/integration, some other random historical or present journalism type of doc). I just feel that getting correct and verifiable information for a nature doc is a ridiculous goal until I have the experience, and more importantly, the money to fund an actual nature doc.

Anyway, that's my summed up answer. There's obviously a lot more to what I want to do. Ultimately though, I am not necessarily looking at going the "hollywood" route for film. My main interest really is a mix between video journalism and "academic" documentaries. Only specified academic to separate it from things like a Michael Moore documentary, which I struggle calling a documentary in the first place.

If you're interested at all in academic analysis of documentary as a genre, Bill Nichols at San Francisco State is one of the top "experts". You might find his book, Representing Reality, interesting (hell, maybe you've already read it!)

hadnt read it but thankd for the suggestion.

Oi, nobody came back with "a wet dream"? Ok, I'm mean and I'm not funny (I'm not really mean).

Looks kind of cool Joe. I happen to know someone who lives not-to-distant from you who writes screenplays and has one some awards for theatrical plays and whatnot.

I'm envious though. I've wanted a camera and to make movies since I was quite young. Over the last 10 years I've really become obsessed with documentaries.

Who voted for the Panasonic and why?

hey, thanks for the link. My point-and-shoot crapped out a few weeks ago and I've been waiting for a decent price on another. That's a killer site.

It is. I agree. However, I have done no "background checks" on it so I am not 100% sure that "new" to them doesn't actually mean "some dumbass dropped the camera and now it is refurbishedly new'.

Looks like my dreams are dashed

I guess no one should ever buy from these folks. I knew the whole "too good to be true" thing was right. Dammit. Guess I gotta keep shooting for saving 4 grand.

xl2 is 3k on ebay

Wow, that is a whole lot of negative feedback. This site sounds like a total scam.

Yeah. My dad pointed the site out to me. He actually ordered from them before I could call him to tell him not to. We will see what happens with that.

Apparently on netsellers.com (.org) they have a rating of .15 out of 10. hahaha.

Holy carp. What an awful "company." Those guys need to be taken out & shot.