Summary: In this podcast I am talking with a friend, Paul Shadwell because we have both been lookIng at possible video camera buying solutions. I would love to have the sort of camera that my son has - a Sony EX1 but I wouldn't have the work for it considering the price of it. It is more suited to the professional camera manI already have a Canon Vixia HF100 which does HD video & does a good job of it. My friend Paul has a similar Panasonic camera.What we are both looking for is something in the Prosumer line of video recording devices.I want a camera that has the 3 CCDs so that I get better quality video & also has better controls that you can find on the better cameras, like focus & zoom rings on the lens for example so that manual features can be better used to enhance the final video clips.Paul talks to me about his reasons for wanting a Prosumer camera & what he plans to use it for. For Myself I want something that I can capture video for microstock video sites as well as the possibility of doing some corporate work & even some narrative shooting.Because of my needs I did wonder about the DSLR cameras that also shoot HD video such as the Canon 7D & the Canon 5D Mk2 & even the new Canon T2i. Nikon also have DSLRs that will shoot video. Many good things have been said about these DSLR cameras & their abilities to shoot video.If you have good glass on them the video is extremely good quality especially in the area of Depth of field. Some people will use depth of field converters on cameras like the EX1 to get the same sort of resultsOf course though there are some disadvantages too. I think the main one is the lack of good audio input - usually you will only find the 3.5mm jack input. Then you would need to use a juiced link or beachtech pre amp to be able to get good results from connecting a XLR type mic. I have connected an XLR mic to my Vixia though just by using a converter connector cable & for what I do it is OKThe other thing with the DSLR is the length of shot you can take. I think the max is going to be about 12 minutes. If you wanted to shoot a conference or maybe other events which are long then you would come up short. I am leaning more towards a proper video camera like the NX5 or the AX2000 from SonyBut Like i said I have seen many posts & reviews of the latest DSLRs in which the film makers are raving about how good they are.
