Shopping For A New Video Camera

[b00duh]

Hey guys. I wasn't sure if I should post this in the Photog Section since it's regarding filming, but I thought I would hear some input from you guys regarding shopping around for a video camera since there seems to be some of you guys with experience with filming and stuff. Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Here's what I'm looking for:

- compact
- reliable
- good battery life
- able to film in HD
- good optical zoom (10x +)
- durable

Budget:

- $1,500.00

One thing I was wondering about was the HDD vs. Memory Card thing. I was looking at the JVC America Everio GZ-HM1SU a couple days ago and I really liked it, but it only had a 64GB hard drive, but had a slot for a memory card. How fast would the hard drive fill up if I were filming in HD?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[deolio]

i was looking for the same thing last spring. after reading a bunch of reviews i ended up with a panasonic hdc-hs300. it's awesome. i like it because of all the manual setup options, but some don't. they just came out with their new and improved model, the hdc-sdt750, which is way ahead of sony and cannon in nearly every aspect. 3mos, ois, excellent automatic settings, the back light mode, and my favorite part is that you can control all the functions with the focus ring thing. and you can also shoot in 3d with it, which is pretty bad ass. all that for about $1400. about the hard disk - i've never completely filled mine, which is 120gb. the sdt750 uses a flash card, which i have no experience with, but i assume it's better haha

[b00duh]

thanks for the info! I'll hit up the store and see if they have an hdc-sdt750 for me to play with.

[Elvis]

Dude, $1500 budget for a camera?! Hehe, whatever you get, I'm sure it'll be good. wish I could help you man!

[b00duh]

Thanks, Elvis. Yeah, I wasn't sure what a good video camera costs nowadays, but that's how much I put away. lol.