Transfer/Format Conversion time and camera selection for multicam edits

I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive additional cameas that ideally would give me a choice of 720p or 1080p, have autofocus, a tungsten preset, and preferably a manual white balance.

I may end up with a camera that only shoots 1080p. I want to minimize the time spend transferring the footage into Final Cut and converting the footage to match the format of the P2 cameras (960 x 720p, ProRes) so that I can create a multiclip for a multicam edit.

Since I may need nore than one camera, I am looking for someting preferrably less than $600.

Converting from 1080i to 720p is way too time consuming, but a lot of this may be from the de-interlacing. What is your experince importing 1080p MPEG-2, AVCHD, or HDV into FCP7?

Also, is it possible to specify a target resolution when transferring the footage into a FCP7 project?

Any suggestions, comments, recommendations?

Thanks,

Cris

I'm not sure that $600 will get you even an iPhone... You need to spend more than that if you want a decent professional camera. You can try looking at the Sony EX3 or the Panasonic HPX 170 (which is a lot cheaper and will match the format of your P2 camera, since it pretty much shoots the same thing).



www.strypesinpost.com