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I am really kind of at a crossroads in my life and unsure where to turn for advice.
I own and edit using a 160gb Casablanca Avio and have been shooting with either a matched set of Sony trv330s (digital 8) or a single Sony pc120bt (mini dv) camera with great results.
Great looking for consumer grade camcorders.
I want to step my game up and finally get a pro camcorder,but am really unsure what to get at this point or what the Avio will handle?
My requirements are pretty simple:
DV format,Firewire,Good low light abilities and the Cam has to be under 5 pounds as I also have a Merlin Steadicam.
I like the new Sony VX2100,but cannot find if its Firewire ready.....
Advice needed.
I need the camera strictly for Independent film making.
I dont do wedding videos or anything like that.
Anybody else with an Avio using a newer prosumer Cam?
Help greatly appreciated.
Its a frustrating daily nightmare looking from camera to camera trying to decide if the Avio is compatible with each different Cam.

Any DV cam, Std. Def. cam will work just fine. I have had 2 different Avio's. The problem with different formats is with the new units and some HD issues. The 2100, 150, 170, series will work just great in low light and meet the weight concerns.
RonE

The VX 2100 has been around for years and is a proven camera for low light as is the big brother...the PD 170. However, at this point and time, I would not suggest purchasing strictly a SD camera unless you will be making your return on that investment. It appears that SD is going the way of the phonograph record. Actually, it looks like TAPE is dying-out as well except for archival purposes.
Almost all INDIE people are producing widescreen. Hardly any regular TV's are being sold today anyway.


I would consider a good used SD camera.

You may also consider the Canon XHA-1S or the SONY Z series. I own a Canon HF s10 SD card camera but also future proofed myself by purchasing a Compact Flash Recorder by SONY for my PRO Canon camera and two other HDV tape cameras. This unit is called the MRCK1 and records FILES at the same time the camera is recording to tape. YES...both SD and HDV works with this unit.

A good point to remember is that ALL HD is widescreen. SD can be widescreen or regular TV (4:3) as well. ALL tape HDV cameras can record in SD and HDV and even downconvert to SD from HDV.

OK...your head is spinning right now....SD....HDV.....widescreen......4:3.......downconvert.

There are several excellent card cameras on the market to consider. Some only have USB as the output and not firerwire. Again, do your homework and make sure the camera has the specifications you feel are necessary.

Lastly, MOST HD cameras require extra lighting, but since you are not a wedding videographer, this will not be a big concern for you.

I actually cut a feature documentary shot with the Panasonic DVX100 on my old AVIO. I use it these days to animate photos using PS2.

SD cameras can do widescreen, you just need an adaptor lens. The one for the DVX is tried and true.

If you buy a SD camera, consider the Panasonic DVX100B and buy the widescreen lens. It will do a 16:9 squeeze in the camera, but I never used it and never heard of anyone who did on any commercial projects.

Frankly, you can get a lot of bang for your buck if you go with an older SD camera, mainly better audio inputs for the money.

I sold my DVX and bought the FX1000. A client bought me a couple consumer Sony HD cameras for one project. I was editing an interview I shot with the prosumer HD1000U this morning and the images looked awesome. It is amazing how even the cheaper cameras can produce beautiful images.

Note that the AVIO will accept 16:9 frames even in progressive. I ran in some downconverted video from my HD1000U one time into the AVIO in 16:9 but as I remember it was letter boxed. Lou had the same camera and maybe knows how to get a 16:9 image from the HD1000U in the AVIO. But I don't think of that camera as "pro" at all. Even my FX1000 isn't a "pro" camera, although it is very nice.

Hello,

Remember that the HD cams are the wave of the future and solid state Cards are the coming thing but your AVIO is not capable of rendering HD unless you turn it on and go away for several days to let it render. It just doesn't have a fast enough processor for HD editing. I've tried and gave up on it. Also there is no software to allow the AVIO to use the SD cards directly into it like the new machines with Bogart software. However you can still play the card in the cam and wire that into your AVIO.

So unless you want to upgrade your editor to a much much faster outfit, I would suggest sticking with a used SD cam like the Sony 2100 or 150 or 170 or the JVCs and Canons of that era and especially the Panasonic DVX 100 or DVX 100a.

It's always a matter of how much you want to spend and what results you are looking for. Yes the HD cross road is here, I have made the jump to HD with a new Panasonic HMC 150 solid state memory card Camcorder and it works great.

JIM: How is the low-light performance of the Panasonic camera in your experience? Gain level. Grain?

jimmeeker wrote:Hello,

Remember that the HD cams are the wave of the future and solid state Cards are the coming thing but your AVIO is not capable of rendering HD unless you turn it on and go away for several days to let it render. It just doesn't have a fast enough processor for HD editing. I've tried and gave up on it. Also there is no software to allow the AVIO to use the SD cards directly into it like the new machines with Bogart software. However you can still play the card in the cam and wire that into your AVIO.

So unless you want to upgrade your editor to a much much faster outfit, I would suggest sticking with a used SD cam like the Sony 2100 or 150 or 170 or the JVCs and Canons of that era and especially the Panasonic DVX 100 or DVX 100a.

It's always a matter of how much you want to spend and what results you are looking for. Yes the HD cross road is here, I have made the jump to HD with a new Panasonic HMC 150 solid state memory card Camcorder and it works great.

I agree with Jim, if you have been using Digital 8 recently and were happy with it you should be ecstatic with the video from a VX2100 (they are not new and have not been in production for a year or so now).

A decent used VX 2100 (or a PD 150/170) would be a good match for an Avio as it is about as good as SD gets in the old 4:3 format.

Hey Lou,

The HMC 150 Panasonic has surprised me. The light levels are very good. I must say that after using the DVX 100 for several years in all light conditions, the HMC 150 is very comparable. I haven't had a lot of experience with it yet, but at this point I am pleased with what it has done in low light. I don't see any graininess yet in normal light conditions and the three levels of GAIN seem to handle anything I've run into so far without adding any terrible grain.

The HD advantage of rich color saturation and 1920 x 1080 resolution has blown me away. Now I just wish my editor would perform as flawlessly as the camcorder does. See ya, my friend.

Jim, I bought the FX1000 because it was $1K or more cheaper and I was hesitant to jump to tapeless. I'm happy with the camera, but I've had to compromise on sound at times. I've just now gotten my sound down (through the mini-plug).

And now I've gone ahead and purchased the Sony CF recorder that I'm hoping will let me go tapeless.

Now that the cost of the Panasonic has fallen, I'd advocate buying it in a New York minute.

Does the HMC150 permit a firewire realtime transfer? If so, it could work with the AVIO.

No firewire......just USB.

ShadowVision wrote:Jim, I bought the FX1000 because it was $1K or more cheaper and I was hesitant to jump to tapeless. I'm happy with the camera, but I've had to compromise on sound at times. I've just now gotten my sound down (through the mini-plug).

And now I've gone ahead and purchased the Sony CF recorder that I'm hoping will let me go tapeless.

Now that the cost of the Panasonic has fallen, I'd advocate buying it in a New York minute.

Does the HMC150 permit a firewire realtime transfer? If so, it could work with the AVIO.