sony pd-150

150's have been discontinued. Look at the 170. Or, if you want to save some money, the PDX-10 is really, REALLY sweet for the price!

And I'd stay away from Canon at all costs, but that's a personal bias. I'm in the middle of fighting with them over a cheap camcorder that I bought as a record deck. It's been back to the factory 5 times in 13 months for repair, and now (on the 5th return) they've mysteriously 'lost' it. It's never worked for more than a week at a time.

But, I imagine that I'm the anomoly... (although that doesn't stop me from refusing to ever buy ANYTHING from them again!)

David.

The Sony PD-150/170 and VX-2000/2100 are great cameras with excellent low-light capabilities - something to consider when shooting under less than ideal lighting. If you can afford it, go with a 3 CCD camera - there is a difference particularly when shooting conditions are less than perfect. I have a VX-2000 and love it.

Sony PDX10. Best 3 chip camera for 16:9 for under $10,000. Probably purchase for a tad less than $2000.

I have three Sony mini-DV camcorders, and the VX2000 is by far the best. As said above, it gives amazing results in low light. The new VX2100 model has some interesting additional features.

The PD150/170 are equivalent in performance to the VX2000/2100 -- but they have a few additional pro features, such as XLR mike inputs (and they cost more!).

If your car shows are brightly lit, you can do OK with an inexpensive camcorder (e.g., any new Sony mini-DV model).

You might also want a wide-angle accessory lens, such as the $170 Canon lens that I use (it's named something like "WD-58") or a cheaper Raynox/etc. I like the "zoom-thru" type, which can be left on the camera when not shooting at a wide angle.

Brandon's Dad

It rather depends on what you mean by 'car shows'.
If it's like our Summers Nats with lots of burn outs then think hard about the audio. We've had problems with PD150/170s at SPLs around 100dB, the audio just shuts down for around 2 seconds on bass peaks, very nasty..
If it's just cars on show with no loud sound ignore that warining but still keep it in mind.
If you want a rugged camera can't beat the PD150/170s, at least you can do something to improve your audio with a better stereo mic.
I'd avoid the PDX10, CCDs are too small and they're fairly easy to damage by cracking one of the PCBs with a moderate thump.
I'd avoid the XL1 as well, takes great pictures but they just aren't rugged enough.
VX2000/2100, well great camera but you're stuck with the on camera mic unless you add balanced adaptor which is a pain.
DVX100A, great if you've got time to setup shots and learn how to use it.
If you need to shoot 16:9 buy a good anamorphic adaptor.
If all of these are above your budget, it just gets all too confusing for me, DVX80 might be worth a look but there's heaps to choose from, Cannon have some good stuff, Sony TRV80 takes nice video and passable stills as well.

Well how much do you have to spend will really determine what camera to buy. So how much? Are you looking in the prosumer level or consumer level?

farss,
what do you mean by
>DVX100A, great if you've got time to setup shots and learn how to use it.<
That's one of the cameras I'm considering besides the vx2100 amongst others.
I'm going to be using it mostly in small to medium yachts 50-150 feet, sometimes in tight
spaces where I wont be able to light the shot optimaly. I thought i read that the leica lens on the dvx was one of the more wider angle lens' compared to the other cams.
I know that i would still have use for a w/a adapter but , I thought that might be another plus for the Panny.
is the learning curve abit more on this cam, ie less auto settings ,more manual adj. nesc for each shot.
unfortunatly where i 'm at the camstores aren't exactly stocked with all the different brands so I cant really compare first hand.

input?

I love my Sony TRV18; I purchased it for about $600 last year. The TRV25 or TRV27 is the same, only with a bigger LCD screen (3.5 inches vs. 2.5).

I used a Canon quite a bit over the summe; I forget the model number, but it was their $400-500 model. It was a piece of junk; produced terrible, grainy video, especially at low light.