LONG SHOT: Trade Nikon D5500 > NTSC Canon G30 + USD $250?

Soniclight-2.0 wrote on 4/30/2018, 2:03 AM

NIKON D5500
(Click on the two images for larger views)

CANON Vixia G30
(Ditto on click-for-larger images)



(PLEASE NOTE: This is technically not a "for commercial purposes" posting, but simply a 12 years member of the Vegas community wishing to do a peer-to-peer exchange. No advertising for services or retail sales. Thank you.)

Before I get into the subject itself, some life and fiduciary clarification:

As some of the veterans here know (I joined the Vegas forum back in 2006 under a slightly different username), my only income for the last 25 years has been a fixed, medical disability income (now at about USD $950/month) and am fortunate to live in a one-bedroom, Federal subsidized apartment.

No other assets of any kind, apart from an ongoing “buffer” of ending each month with usually about $800-1100 - and am not allowed to go any higher for risk of losing part of my benefits.

Yet I am also rather disciplined and manage to remain debt free. (Pauper-ness is kind of like getting a bootcamp M.B.A. in wallet management - lol).

OK, so that's that.
On to this long shot....

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While it tanked my buffer or reserve for a few months, I wanted to upgrade from my only camcorder - the 2008 MiniDV Canon HV30 that still works but could die at any moment - to a DSLR. That Nikon cost me around $750 for what you see in the pictures I took, purchased new through Adorama.

Due to my anxiety condition and other life factors, the learning curve for a DSLR turned out to be too steep. AND it provides no auto-focus in video recording mode. Which is just a no-go for me.

So I probably used it for a total of about 2.5 hours, out of which maybe 20 minutes of picture and video recording, then retired it to a closet. But have regularly charged the lithium battery via its wall plug-in charger..

In short, it's in true mint condition.

Due to my particular visual style as a serious amateur or quasi semi-pro because of my training and past skills in design, graphics, etc. I'm pretty good at taking crappy footage and turning it into rather decent, albeit quite dreamy-ethereal type short videos for online viewing..

Meaning, my strengths are post production.

Going back to a consumer grade camcorder may seem counter-intuitive to most, but that is what is most sensible and sane for me. And I've looked at the current line of Canons and if the Video Gods or Goddesses of Life won't grant me the serendipity of the proposed, most desired G30 (a G40 would be pushing it), then...

I'll have to settle for what currently would fit my budget. The Canon R800. MSRP USD $249, currently at $219. (And, yes, I've looked at comparable Sony, Pannys, etc. -- the Canon is still superior in terms of bang for the buck and image quality.)

But let's pretend said Divinities smile down on me and arranges such serendipity, it is not realistic to expect a new G30. However due to that many of you here -- and/or others editors you may know -- are pros and thus have multiple camcorders and cameras, perhaps you have a close to mint condition G-30 (or similar prosumer camcorder that can record good 1080p) gathering dust...

Last, aside from the + USD $250, if you live anywhere in the world, I'll also pay for shipping if you so wish.
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As stated, I know this is very likely a highly unrealistic shot in the dark. But to tweak a saying, “Nuttin' ventured, no cam gained.” But if said serendipity shows up, please feel free to contact me offline if so desired.

Thank you.

~ Philip in Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A.
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PS: There is a reason I jumped over the G10 and G20. Some of the specs and capabilities I would like that are in the G-30/40 --as well as in the newer slightly more bare-bones version of the G40 (the G21) -- are not available in those previous models.

Comments

Soniclight-2.0 wrote on 4/30/2018, 2:15 AM

PPS: On a slight aside...

The only reason I actually even have Vegas is that I discovered it at B&H in 2006 as legit disk-only v.6 - for USD $99 -- for I wanted to graduate from my eBay purchased cheapy, entry level Pinnacle 8 NLE that I had bought for $25 or so. Pinnacle 8 was a good self-teaching intro for editing basics, but I wanted to learn and accomplish more.

Then I upgraded to Vegas v.8, and, a few years later an Aussie member here offered to and gave me v.10 since he had moved on higher up in Vegas and was using AE more. Which is still what I use (v.10e).

While I downloaded and tried out the current v.15, I don't really need or want to spend money on it for I don't do 4K or need 3D. And my 2005 6-core AMD still handles several tracks and at times quite complex effects pretty well. The longest video project I've so far ever created is only about 9 minutes long.

(This aside may be and seem to be a tangent, but it also provides some perspective on that I don't need or can handle fancy stuff such as pro grade camcorders or DSLRs. But I've got to get a better cam than what I have.)

farss wrote on 4/30/2018, 7:55 PM

Not certain if there's much I can do to help here.
Following on from the move away from tape I believe a lot of people are hanging onto cameras for a lot longer than they did previously. It's not just the move away from tape either. I think. Cameras became "good enough", My now quite old Sony F828 takes good enough stills for all my needs and I bought my wife a RX100 a couple of years ago and it's done many miles and still takes great stills and video.

I guess what I'm trying to say is the market for last generation cameras has changed. The current state of economic uncertainty probably adds to the issue.

Soniclight-2.0 wrote on 4/30/2018, 11:13 PM

Thanks, Bob. I get what you're saying about keeping tape-based and/or older gear. In my case, it's not for those reasons, but because of skinny wallet, hence having to make due with what I have. Though I agree that I can and have pulled out some very decent frames that turned into still photo-art from my old HV30 shot at 60i.

As you know, my "dreamy" style often involves some slow-mo, and interlaced footage tends to go jaggy, hence why I'd like to get a newer cam -- most of which provide progressive, i.e. 1080p at 60 fps.

And, Sure, there are cams in the same prosumer-ish range as the G30/40/21 that do 4k (but only at 30 fps as far as i know - not 60 fps which I want). 4K is of any realistic use to me since it's still more of a novelty and not pervading the market as "the" resolution - yet).

This aside from the higher CPU and RAM load which would cause problems both workflow wise and rendering-wise in my Vegas Pro 10e.

It's a solid build and aside from when I mix in double fps footage (rendering out an event to some lossless format to bring it back in for slightly better slow-mo), and occasional crashes, auto-save gets me back up and running.

Having progressive footage to begin with would probably help me not have to do that doubling as much, for it is the interlaced jaggies that provoke me to do that doubling thing.

EricLNZ wrote on 5/1/2018, 4:47 AM

Having progressive footage to begin with would probably help me not have to do that doubling as much, for it is the interlaced jaggies that provoke me to do that doubling thing.

I don't get jaggies when slowing down interlaced material. What I get is jerkiness when resample is disabled because VMS, and presumably Vegas Pro, don't deinterlace (I always use interpolation) before duplicating frames. Consequently when the rendered file is played the frames jump backwards and forwards. Other consumer editors that I've used and tried don't have this problem. It's a bad weakness, or never fixed bug, of Vegas. Converting my 50i to 50p is the only satisfactory answer but a nuisance. I not infrequently slow down hand held shots of scenic subjects that don't have people or traffic. It gives me a more steady shot without having to resort to using Stabiliser FX which because of its cropping reduces image quality.

Soniclight-2.0 wrote on 5/1/2018, 3:07 PM

Knowing that this posting is probably not going to result in anything, I've gone back to my initial "Plan A" of which @NickHope reminded me. Sell Nikon first, then buy G30. eBay isn't a good option in my case at least for the sale part. So I'm doing it at my area's Photo/Video section of Cragislist.

One reason I had postponed "Plan A"....

I finally had to check with Social Security first, for they can be very strict about what constitutes as income that if it goes over one's allotted monthly resources can nuke one month's SSI (about USD 300) benefits if one even goes over that limit by $ 1.00.

Pretty crazy stuff, but I go by the rules for this assistance has literally saved my life.

Anyway, here I go rambling into tangents again.
Bottom line: Still open to serendipity happening here, but hopefully the initial 2-part Plan A will work.

No more comments requested.
(Said serendipity being the one exception.)