professional camcorder?

Rayford Speziale: the short answer is no pro would use an SD card camera, i don't care what Panasonic says. Panasonics real pro cameras use a P2 card which is entirely different. the main reason for pros to shun SD cards is the AVCHD encoding. this form of encoding looks ok when played back, but i suspect you are not going to give away your camcorder to the client so they can watch. AVCHD does not convert gracefully to MPEG2, which is the codec required for DVD and television broadcast. You would be much better served to use HDV tape which is MPEG2 encoded and used by many pros that have to produce an HD program. the best camcorder for producing DVDs by far is miniDV. as for music videos, AVCHD is a dissaster, it only offers four edit points per second, you won't be able to maintain lip sync during the editing. while miniDV records uncompressed stereo digital audio, the best there is and can be edited on any frame. try and find a Canon ZR950 or 960 used, it will cost lik! e $200 instead of $1700 and do a better job....Show more

Sol Bayn: The simple answer is that with your specifications, no, there is no pro, card based, camcorder.The more complex question is what to do instead. Avoid consumer HD, even at $1700 these crapcorders record at 11 gigs/hour at their best. Compared to the 13 gigs/hour that STANDARD DEF MiniDv based cameras got, this is a step backward in quality.And the only thing they do worse than video is audio.$1700 would be a screaming deal on a used XH A1S (Pro HDV, which is also MiniDv based), but I have not seen one go less than the high $2000 range.There are consumer HDV cameras around $1000 like the Canon Vixia HV40. Good camera, but I wouldn't want to show up to a paid gig with one.Or, you can get an excellent used MiniDv like the GL or XL series, running about $800 and $1000 respectively. And save the extra $1000 for lights, tripod, and/or software.The GL or XL or similar MiniDv cameras from other major makers are! where I would likely go, if I were starting with no cameras. ! I own a couple GL-2's and am considering the Vixia for a low profile, discrete handheld.Another interesting option is there are several DSLRs that capture HD at 20 gigs/hour, but they have other issues.You will find equals to MiniDv at about the $2000 range, and clearly better cameras start about $3300.Lens, features, size, are all important. But it also comes down to the format. 11 gigs/hour, for a frame size 6 times bigger???? something has to give (Hint: Quality). Learn about the format, compression, and why MiniDv can be up-converted to 1920 X 1080 and still be less compressed than native HD!Embrace the tape, or double your investmentalmost forgot, really want to not deal with tape, spend $700 on a GL-2, then get a card based external recorder, about $1000 new....Show more

Russel Gajate: http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/ca...Then a stabilizer and some lightshttp://opteka.com/xgrip.aspxhttp://opteka.com/vl90-1.aspxhttp://www.bescor.com/Export9.htm...! Show more

Kirk Coolbeth: Have a look at Canon VIXIA HF S21 Dual Flash Memory Camcorder* Records up to 24 hours of crisp high definition video to a 64GB internal flash drive or directly to two removable SD memory cards* Genuine Canon 10x HD Video Lens* Canon 1/2.6" 8.59-Megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor captures video at 1920 x 1080 resolution* Canon DIGIC DV III Image Processor* Dynamic SuperRange OIS corrects a full range of motion...Show more