Best HD camera (under $6,000)

[mattmatt]

I have access to a Sony FX1, which shoots 1440 x 1080i, but I am currently looking at buying a new camera.

I would like it to shoot 1920x1080 60p??? Is too much to ask for that price? and will edius edit that real time? (core 2 duo + raid)

60fps, progressive, will that mean I can do AWESOME slomos in edius?

I am doing some research, but was hoping for some live feedback.

[Bluetongue]

Mat
Take a good look at the Canon XH-A1, I have an FX1 that has now been relegated to backup and video transfer.
All started when I was looking for a small camera for confined spaces on tour buses and helicopters and bought a Canon HV20, the sharpness of the picture killed the FX1 which is quite soft in comparison. Immediately tried the A1 and promptly bought it.
If you like the FX1 you will love the A1 and it has the advantage of a 20x zoom which is perfect for the type of video I make of travel and nature.
Tried a test looking down a long road in my area with telegraph poles every 100ft - 30 meters the FX1 focused on the first pole perfectly, the second pole it was difficult to tell if it had focussed properly as even with the 4x and peaking I could not go past the in focus indication, FX1 told me it was at 60m.
From there to infinity there was no change to any focus to poles further away or the second pole.
The Canons on the other hand will focus on every pole to the end of the road, absolutely brilliant.
Close up to around 10ft - 3meters there is little to pick between them.
The video from the FX1 can be made comparable by adding a Sharpen filter in Edius, editing in HDV with a setting of 30 but a lot of the fine detail is missing.
Have a good look, hope this personal appraisal helps
Regards Barry

[Blast1]

You might want to take a look at the new PMW-EX1 XDCAM, its going to be in the neighborhood of $6K, just do a web search for it, you will find plenty info

[MinMinc.]

I've been shooting with two A-1 canon's for the past six months, Burning Blu-ray's for three weeks, They look very very good, Standard DVD's look better than what I was doing with my Sony DSR-300's...PS you could get almost two for six grand!!!. Gary

[mattmatt]

AWESEOM! Thanks guys, these model numbers will come in handy as I compare :) Thanks agian, Matt.

[mattmatt]

Bluetongue - the Canon XH-A1 sounds perfect, but since this is quite a big investment for me, I really want a camera that can record 1920x1080. All its other features, its looks, and what you have said about it, are abuslutely perfect. Shame....

Blast1 - The PMW-EX1 XDCAM would be cool - but a few grand over my budget (oz dollars). Plus, I'm a bit scared of the memory card capture.....Need to do more research on that one. I like how it can only record 1440x1080 in standard mode, but in HQ mode it does 1920x1080 50i and 1280x720 50p, awesome.

MinMinc - What sort of work are you doing? Hows the authoring going with bluray? Ran into anything out of the norm??? What are you viewing the discs on?? I can't wait till we are doing mainstream Blurays - starting in Early Dec.

[Bluetongue]

PS you could get almost two for six grand!!!. Gary

Boy I wish I lived in the states, just for one in Aus there is only pocket money left out of 6 big ones!
Barry

[Rusty]

A Better Place to Ask

Go to DVinfo.net

Ask there, you'll get way too many answers!

[mattmatt]

Ta Rusty :)

[kwshaw1]

the Canon XH-A1 sounds perfect, but since this is quite a big investment for me, I really want a camera that can record 1920x1080. All its other features, its looks, and what you have said about it, are abuslutely perfect.

In your price range having 1920x1080 recording shouldn't be your priority, as the AVCHD cameras with that feature aren't otherwise noteworthy. Standard HDV video looks fine when played on an HDTV display. The Canon XH-A1 is a good choice with the caveat that it may need some adjustment to minimize graininess in dim lighting. If you really want good 1920x1080 recording, the new Sony EX1 is the way to go.

[Blast1]

Blast1 - The PMW-EX1 XDCAM would be cool - but a few grand over my budget (oz dollars).

Sorry 'bout that, When you said $6K I was thinking US$, For under $10Kus you could have a nice kit, The cam, a hand full of solid state memory, also a blu-ray burner and a stack of discs for data archiving.( Santa are you copying this???)

[rsn108]

I have both a Sony FX1 and a Canon A1 and find both of them excellent, although the A1 is not good in bad light, at least on auto. The FX1 is clearly better there. If you're running on auto everything then the FX1 may be better, although it tends to be slightly softer, but if you're doing a lot of manual adjustment then the A1 may be better.

But the FX1 is strongly built. I was in India a couple of weeks ago and it fell off a roof, onto a crowd of people, and emerged apparently unscathed (the people were not so happy about it though) and continues to operate smoothly. The A1 may also be robust, although I haven't put it through a test like that yet.

[mattmatt]

Thanks :) What a cool camera testing story! I would be fiddling manually, so the cannon seems to be the go - I'll have to actually use it and see if I like the results.

[GrassValley_BH]

...and remember that overall image quality is a combination of optics, imaging element (CMOS/CCD), and compression.

Just as you can get stunning digital photographs from a 5 MP high-end digital camera and crap digital photographs from an 8 MP low/mid-range digital camera, the same is true for video - plus motion.

[Jerry]

I have both a Sony FX1 and a Canon A1 and find both of them excellent, although the A1 is not good in bad light, at least on auto. The FX1 is clearly better there. If you're running on auto everything then the FX1 may be better, although it tends to be slightly softer, but if you're doing a lot of manual adjustment then the A1 may be better.

But the FX1 is strongly built. I was in India a couple of weeks ago and it fell off a roof, onto a crowd of people, and emerged apparently unscathed (the people were not so happy about it though) and continues to operate smoothly. The A1 may also be robust, although I haven't put it through a test like that yet.

Let me add to this that the A1 has a a wider lens and auto focus, for when you use it, is a whole lot better than on the FX1 or Z1.
That said, I am selling the FX1 and XH-A1 to go with the xdcam xs.
More than likely at NAB next year.