going to buy a DV cam, need good pciture quality over cool extras

[aaron emanuel litvinoff]

hi there. I am going to get a DV video camera. My concern is quality

of picture, as opposed to really cool effects/bluetooth/bollocks that

would come on semi pro models. Is there a camcorder which has

semi/full broadcast quality but not masses of expensive and unnessary

controls (I've never, ever owned a video camera). I will mostly be

using it for filming family events etc

[beerbrain_ronny_perry]

The Canon GL 2 is a prosumer camera with 3,,, 1/4 in CCD`s. It has manual controls that effect the picture quality,and full auto , the manual control things like ,,sharpness/detail...color phase...setup level..these kinds of handles where ordinarily found on broadcast Betacam $20,000+ cameras.If you what the higher quality,, a 3 chip camera is what you need.3 chips will have more resolution and also a better level of sensitivity, in low light you will also have more resolution, most home stuff is unlit, so the low light capabilities of a 3 chip camera is a advantage in video quality.Your TV/monitor will be the equalizer, a good camera played back on a crap monitor ..looks like crap, no matter how good the camera is.The GL 2 is about $1700,,which is cheap for a 3 chipper,,the next model up is a Canon XL1s ,,it is about $3300,,it would be overkill for home video though.plus the GL2 is much easier to use.

 

http://www.canondv.com/gl2/f.html

[adrian douglas]

The SONY VX2000 is also another good choice in this price range. It's a little more point and shoot than the GL2 but has larger CCDs and better low-light performance. For my money the Canon is the better camera but the VX2000 is a good alternative.