Topic: Camera Recommendation?

[buddyboy101]

Hey ya'll, I'm in search of a camera that can tape a live show.  It must have...

- mini-dv
- mic input
- shoe accessory
- headphone input
- a price below $500

If you have any good recommendations, please let me know.  Thanks!

[buddyboy101]

Update:

Panasonic PV-GS 180, 200, 250, 400 seem to satisfy all of these criteria.  The 400 seems like the clear winnter, but it's over a grand....

Any other recs?

[BayTaynt3d]

Not to mention they don't even sell the GS400 anymore. It was TOO GOOD for their consumer line, LOL! Panny, those jerks downgrading their consumer MiniDV product line last year. (I own one, and it's pretty sweet IMHO for MiniDV: true widescreen on 3 ccds, aux aud input, manual override on everything.)

[buddyboy101]

yeah that's really a shame! 


i've my eye on the gs250 due to OIS.  but the 180 has huge value too.

for the mic, i'm considering the rode videomic.

[wbrisette]

for the mic, i'm considering the rode videomic.

You might also look at the NTG-2. It will run on AA batteries or phantom. I did a test with the NTG-1 in my mic tree and for a gun, it wasn't too bad for live music. For speech stuff, it was really good.

Wayne

[buddyboy101]

hey thanks for the advice. 

it's a bit more expensive...do you know if the videomic is any good? 

[BayTaynt3d]

Videomic is a pretty good all-around (low-end) shotgun mic for use with small videocams (much better than onboard mic for talking), but it'll be a little iffy for recording music. For starters it's a shotty, secondly it's pretty sensitive when run into the mic-in of the camcorder (you may have to attenuate it and the cams levels all the way down under loud conditions), and it's mono (but I think there have a stereo version now, not sure about that one though). You might find for music, you get better results with the onboard stereo mic, it's more ambient, but think of it like an omni b/c it'll pick up everything around you.

[buddyboy101]

baytaynt thanks for all the help, you're great!

is it possible to use a stereo mic with a 1/8" mic jack?  i heard that the panasonic cameras only have mono mic inputs...so can they still use stereo mics? 

thanks

[kuuan]

the mic inputs on the mentioned panasonic cams 1/8" stereo mic jacks!

[stantheman1976]

If you want to record music you do not want the Rode VM.  It's a mono shotgun mic.  Not ideally suited for music.  It's an awesome mic for close voice work though.  For music you'll need a good single point stereo mic.