back from the wilderness, and a slightly OT question to the experts

Hello all.

I was active on this board back in the FCP2?4.5 days?seeing the new-look site (lovely) much has changed. I have written another book in the interim, and have not touched FCP since 4.5. It seems like a LONG time ago!

My question: many folk here are now working in some version of HD, but for my present work (web-based, and DVD-5 and DVD-9) I still work in PAL, mini-DV or DVCAM.

I now need an additional camera with certain must-have specs, and some optional. I have been looking everywhere for over a week, but few of the sites mention features that are important to me, personally.

Is there a camcorder/handycam that is relatively small, with mic input (headphone output nice, but not essential), with a *relatively* wide end on the zoom, and which records standard def. PAL video in a form that FCP recognises natively (no rendering/conversion)?

I would prefer one that records this material on a CF, SD card or an internal HDD, but only if I can see the HDD on the desktop (or read from a card reader), and drag the files over to the timeline without conversion: for this particular application, speed is desirable. Or, if the camera has DV-out, I can record directly into FCP, but would prefer to have the flexibility to both.

And (this is frankly amazing to me) none of the consumer cameras indicate the equivalent field of view of their lenses (and most are too wide to shoot indoors). For the purpose, I am happy to use a wide angle converter.

All suggestions gratefully received, and it's good to be back.

Cheers, KL

Welcome back! Hmm... Your preferred budget will most certainly be helpful if anyone was to give advice.



www.strypesinpost.com

(slaps head): Indeed.

$1,000?2,000 USD is the range; when I bought the GY-500 and the Canon 1/2" mount lens, I remember there wasn't much change from $12,000 AUD?all the AV gear is cheaper now (for a particular image quality, I mean).

I am considering the Canon HV30; I was considering the JVC HD6, but its files need converting to use in FCP?AFAIK. The Fujinon HD lens on it looks good though.

As well, I had considered a used DCR TRV900, or a PD150/PD170, but I really did want something that I could throw in a bag with a towel wrapped around it, and the form factors/weight etc. of the smaller cameras is appealing, and I was trying to get away from the necessity of L&C.