Since you're doing it as a hobby, by all means, spend the lesser amount, as suggested above.

Pretty easy to rent an EX1 down here, don't know if there's any NX5s for rental.
If that isn't an option for you to try before you buy my advice would be to go for the EX1 or neither.
As a percentage the price difference isn't huge. So one is the 'best in class' and certainly offers a lot more features than the other. Given that you can well end up always having that if only I wasn't a cheapskate... feeling.
On the other hand both are pretty hefty cameras and for "recording my travels" personally I'd take neither and I own an EX1. If the purpose of your travels is primarily to shoot video, very different matter, go for the EX1r but allow for a decent tripod and I mean a Miller Compass or Sachtler. Just keep in mind you are going to be hefting a lot of gear around.

Bob.

Thanks for the replies so far. I very much appreciate the advice. Just to fill you in on our modus operandi, our travels are caravan based and the gear is always at hand, either in the vehicle or the 'van. I have a couple of HD Handycams for when I'm trekking and a GoPro waterproof HD camera for fishing/diving etc.

The semi-pro camera would be used for set shots (scenery, wildlife etc) and as suggested would mainly be used on a tripod. My wife and I are nomads and pretty much travel permanently, so recording our memories is important to us enough to justify making a real good job of it. (Hence the use of an advanced NLE like Vegas).

We send the finished products to friends and rellos and possibly bore them to death, but we have had feedback from these folks that suggests that we are close to producing a product that could be sold....perhaps a semi-pro camera might help realise that?

I like the idea of hiring cameras and trying them out. Hadn't thought of that - thanks.

Cheers

Russ

My guess is that you'd be thrilled with one of http://www.dpreview.com/news/1007/10071401sonynexvg10e.aspthese[/link].

Even bigger sensor than an EX1 for shallower depth of field and even better low light capability, removable lens, great mic for recording ambient audio (but not for interviews). Not too big and a much lower price. You sound like exactly the type of person the engineers for this camera were thinking about when they designed it. On top of all that, it should be a pretty amazing still camera as well.

Check out these videos:






Edit: By the way, I REALLY WANT ONE OF THESE MYSELF! :-)

May want to consider the Sony NEX-VG10 with large sensor and interchangeable lenses. Retail is $2k US.

I shot our last product video with a Panasonic GH1 HD DSLR (same idea as the VG10 but smaller, with a DSLR form factor and no XLR mic inputs). The GH1's 1080 footage is absolutely awful, so I shoot at 720p. But even at 720p, the end result outclassed our Sony HVR-V1U.

I also found that after getting used to the camera it was faster to shoot with. As a result, we sold our V1U last week and the GH1 is now my production camera.

These types of cameras have limitations that make them ill-suited for certain types of work (zooming is completely manual, for example). But for the type of work that you're wanting to do the VG10's interchangeable lens options could open up some artistic possibilities that may not otherwise be available to you.

Russ:

If you take the money consideration out of your decision process, it's a pretty easy call to go for the EX-1R. It's by far the top of the line in this price range. It's a little larger and heavier than the NX5, but neither of these cameras is in the compact or mid-size category.

Look for a used one on DVinfo or DVXuser, there are lots of used "like new" ones available. Maybe someone will ship to AU. I know in AU you guys are currently crushed with inflation and high costs, that has to make buying stuff very painful.

Thank you both for the info re: VG10. It certainly piqued my curiosity. Interestingly, it is almost $1000.00 (USD) more to buy here in Australia than in the States. With the USD and AUD almost at parity at the moment this is a little hard to swallow.

I have contacted a couple of reputable Aussie suppliers and asked them to sharpen the pencil a bit. If they can't/won't then the HXR-NX5 is possibly better value for money, albiet more expensive overall. I look forward to a response from them.

Cheers

Russ

Thanks Jeff,

The more I look into this, the tougher it gets. (See my reply re:the VG10 camera.) In everything else I've done I've always gone for top-of-the-line gear and for some reason, on this occasion, price has become an issue. I can't figure myself out!

All said and done, my preference is for the EX1R, but I guess I have to be practical about the actual, rather than perceived need for such a camera. I guess my underlying thoughts are "Will I ever turn pro and therefore really maximise the benefit of having an EX1R, or will videography always just be a hobby and the more sensible choices would be the NX5 or VG10?

I am definitely not going to rush into this. It has been suggested to me that I make the very best short film that I can using the gear that I have now, hand it around and ask folks if they would pay money for the product. If the general concensus is "Yes" then I would choose between the EX1R and the NX5. If "No" then I'd choose between the VG10 and the NX5. Makes good sense. Perhaps I should do it?

Certainly the weight of opinion regarding the original two cameras mentioned in my first post is leaning toward the EX1R in terms of technical attributes and the NX5 due to its price point.

Cheers

Russ

Russ, would you buy an aircraft carrier just to go fishing?

Who wouldn't ? ;-)

Towing it down the highway (or worse, a back road) might present a problem :-)

Mike

One factor easily overlooked is unlike the other cameras your looking at is the EX1 is a 12V camera. That makes using alternate power source easier. These sounds like a trivial advantge until you're on the road where with nothing more than the right cable you can run your camera off a car battery. I also use the one battery to power both the camera and my on camera light.

Regarding ROI if you add a NanoFlash to your EX1 then the recorded 4:2:2 footage is easily marketable. There's a dearth of stock footage from this vast continent and you are in a good position to fill that need and help fund your travels.

The middle of this country is now wet and lakes full of water instead of salt. There's some spectacular footage to be had and such opportunities are once in a lifetime events. I wish I could be out there. Heck if you had the foresight to leave an EX1 in the one spot for a week or two in timelapse you could have gotten shots worth serious money.

Bob.

Ya know... that VG10 is quite interesting. I watched Laurence's YouTube links, and they're quite good. Does anyone think that the 1080i is a significant drawback? I've been recording for years with the V1U in the 24p progressive mode, and while I could give up the 24 fps, I really like watching progressive footage. I haven't researched this issue in years, so I can't recall if mp4 and other formats automatically render 1080i footage into progressive without losing quality.

Also, does anyone know how the NG10 autofocus works? Is it the same as using a regular camcorder... do you have the option of what portion of the recorded image is in focus?

I'd also say that I'd miss the histogram and zebras in the V1U if I picked up a few of these.

Actually that is a misconception that is largely the fault of Sony's marketing department. The VG10 shoots 30p but puts it in an interlaced container for compatibility. Check out this link:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1000&message=35859768

In practice this means that you get a nice progressive image but with less judder than 24p (flame suit is on because I know that many people here will disagree and LOVE 24p). 30p looks great. It's my favorite format. I only use 24p when someone hiring me insists on it. Whether it is in a 30p or 60i container has no bearing whatsoever upon the look of your footage.

To get the shallow depth of field you see in the links I posted of the VG10 with an EX1, you'd need a huge lens adapter assembly stuck in front of your EX1. These were all the rage before the Canon SLR cameras with HD video became popular. I personally would rather work with a VG10 than an EX1, but I have no doubt that many here would strongly disagree.

one reason camera price might be different between here and the us is they're ntsc over there, were pal and in the past there's a premium for buying pal.....

Just a thought: don't all HDTV and Bluray decks play back both PAL and NTSC framerates? At SD PAL had both resolution and colorspace advantages, but in HD the advantage goes clearly to 30fps over 25fps because of the lower judder (25p is really no better than 24p). The only consideration I would have of using 25p is less flicker with pulsed lighting, but even most fluorescents these days have very high frequencies so that people don't complain about the flicker. Why not just order a US model from somewhere that will ship it to Australia?

The only issue would be when you downrez to SD DVD of course, but I find myself doing that less and less as DVDs seem to be heading the way of the audio CD very quickly.

Although you have qualified yourself as "only a hobbyist", I suggest the essential qualification is how seriously you pursue your hobby. Since you seem to be quite serious, then you are likely to find the refinements in more professional equipment quite beneficial. Over my range of technical interests (aside from film making) I've never regretted buying gear that exceeds the capabilities that I originally thought sufficient. On the other hand, I have regretted "sensible economic compromises" in buying model B instead of model A.
You can hand hold an EX1. Although I can say, after my recent experience of filming a wedding, that the camera gets extremely heavy over 40 minutes. It is much better on a good tripod.

Again, thanks for the considered replies. Bob, the 12 Volt operation could well be the deal clincher. Our entire traveling rig is 12 Volt based (TV, laptops, hifi system ....just everything) and we need to run an inverter to charge the batteries of most of our gear. To be able to operate the camera directly from the "ship's supply" would be an incredible advantage.

The stock footage idea isn't as silly as it sounds either. I got a cold chill just thinking of how much good footage I have taken of this broad, brown land......all with inadequate cameras and essentially of no commercial value. Most of the chill was brought about by the thought of having to repeat the 100,000 Kilometres of travel to capture it again.

Cheers

Russ

Thanks for all of the replies. In the end the clincher turned out to be the ability to run the camera from a 12 Volt source other than its internal battery. So the winner is........PMW-EX1R.

Not only that but I also have approval from She Who Must Be Obeyed to buy it. All I have to do is wait for the favourable Aussie Dollar to kick in and the price to drop. One supplier I spoke to expects this to happen during the next four months.

Of course, in the next four months Sony will probably release a shiny new, even better camera, just to confuse me again.

Cheers

Russ

Hi all,

just an update. After duly considering all of the wisdom of the forumites I ordered the PMW-EX1R today. Also ordered a nanoflash unit with 2 x 32G memory cards, RODE shotgun mic, Sennheiser wireless lav mic set, two BPU-60 high capacity batteries, extra SxS 32G memory card, Miller 1852 (Compass 25) Tripod system, custom cases to put the gear in, SDI cable, 3.5mm to XLR conversion cable.

I'm now $18,000.00 poorer thanks to you lot!

Cheers

Russ

No one can say you do things by halves that's for sure.

Bob.