Bob,

Your comments parallel several ad-hoc reviews I just read, and there are a few videos on Youtube showing off the low light and stabilization performance of the NX30, but surprisingly, I've yet to find a good in depth review.

I saw several commented on how "silly" they thought the projector was, until they actually used it, and I can see how handy it would be. Rather than hauling around an external monitor for casual playback, you could just use your white balance card you carry with you.

One person commented on the outstanding still images.

One negative that came up several times was the lack of start/stop/record/zoom controls on the accessory audio handle, BUT, the handle was better overall than the one for the XA10.

Of course, the minute I buy it, Canon or Panasonic will come out with a new model that blows the pants off the NX30.

Overall. it looks like it would be a major step up for me, although I still might pursue getting my HC7 repaired, as I do multi-cam shoots at our church productions, and having yet another cam in the arsenal would be nice.

There are lower priced Sony cameras with all of the same features but without the XLR and other pro stuff.

So if you do not really need the pro stuff you can save a bit of cash!

I recently bought the HDR-PJ710V. The only difference is that it has 32 gig internal memory instead of 96 gig and of course without the XLR and other pro audio stuff. The 32 gig gives me plenty of recording time but if I want more I can add a card.

I can use my mixer and other audio equipment for the pro audio stuff. In fact I prefer those to the built in camera stuff. But that is for my needs.

I record approx an hour of video on Sunday morning and two hours in the evening and have room for more.

As for being stable, even with my shaky hands I can shoot handheld and it will look as stable as when it is on a tripod!

The only weakness is the 10x zoom is just a tad short for shooting in a Church from the back. But then one can add a telephoto lens if one is going to shoot mainly close-ups.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com/ccm

We have a HC5 and still use it. Give it enough light and it is far from tragic.

Yes, there'll always be something seemingly better around the corner however the real gains are becoming incrementally smaller from what I see. The price point at each layer in the strata is coming down which is mostly good news. On the other hand my EX1 is ancient and in my opinion a better camera than the ones that replaced it. The images are as good today as they were when I bought it and the most limiting factor remains my skill and the conditions I am forced to shoot under.

Bob.

Danny, I really would like to get the XLR inputs. as sometimes they would come in handy. I too use a mixer for some shoots, but as it's powered by AC, and having the onboard XLR, with phantom power, would cut the cord.

Your comment about the 10x zoom is interesting as I also do a lot of shooting at church productions, yet where I usually set up, 10x would almost be overkill. I'm sure I could get a telephoto lens for those times I need more. There is a mention of a 17x zoom, but that's probably a digital extension. My Panasonic camera has a longer zoom, so I would use that for the tighter shots.

Bob, I've always been amazed at how well that HC7 stacked up against more expensive cameras in good light. Falls apart in low light, but thankfully most of my uses for it have been in good lighting. The exception has been at some of the church productions where the lighting is purposely marginal for effect.

I've actually shot some commercials in the last several years for some non-profit groups in HD with the HC7, and they look really good on the air, especially compared with the high end cameras our station production department uses. I've been really pleased with that camera, but the mic preamp is really noisy when trying to feed the external input at mic level. Usually for the "pro" shoots, I record audio to a laptop from a mixer, or prior to that, a DAT machine, and sync in post.

Just a thought, there are some very good battery powered mixers but the price for those compared to the pro camera would not be beneficial to you.

So the pro model camera would fit your needs much better.

When it comes to hand held and being steady, the Sony greatly beats all others!!!

At least for now it does...

I do have a little inexpensive Behringer mixer that can run off of 9V batteries, and does OK, but it loses some headroom, and only has, I think, 18V of phantom power, so it's not good for everything. I did use it on a live commercial shoot last summer with 4 self powered LAVs, and it did fine. I've seen some more pricey battery mixers that look great. Some day I will look into some major upgrades of my "stuff".

It still boggles my mind what you can put together on the cheap these days.

I'm gonna throw a spanner in the works here, I just invested in a Panasonic AG-AC90 and so far I'm liking it a lot. It's the same price as the NX30 and has full manual controls including 3 rings. The stabilization is excellent and it has xlr ins etc. The main downside is it doesn't do hi-res stills, but I have a 60d for that. I was looking at the NX30 but the lack of full manual mode put it out of the running for me (the NX30 only has priority mode)