saru88, mine's the 52mm version. The link i quickly picked is 43mm. I bought the 52mm version as it does better in the corners of the frame compared to the 43mm. You can check that out here, tested with the HV20.

I can give you a little tip about cheap wide angle lens converters tho. Most of the cheap ones aren't as wide as they claim. I have this Merkury 0.45X Wide Angle Lens but my Raynox HD-6600 (0.66X) appeared to be alot wider than the claimed "0.45X".

This post has been edited by FuGZ: Apr 20 2010, 05:33 PM

I'm not trying to say bigger is better, it could be otherwise you know. I'm just saying i bought the 52mm HD6600 because it has been compared and tested with the 43mm on the HV20. Results may differ with a different camera or even different thread size lens. Starting off cheap isn't always a good idea, cuz you're gonna spend on something better soon after that. But we start somewhere with the cheapest things anyways. If you could afford it, save up for good lens Chromatic abbreviation can be very ugly, you'd wonder where the HD quality you paid for went!

A 550D with kit lens will kick the ass out of most consumer video cameras with an adapter. And of course, i'm comparing for the reason why people buy 35mm adapters in the first place, not the general aimless Video Cameras VS HD DLSRs debate. If it doesn't kick much ass in terms of performance in the proline, i'm sure it will price wise. Chances you'd have 2 cameras to work with, lovely!

saru88,

What's your definition of building a prosumer rig really? Could give you some leads to that if we knew what you want. As much as prosumer building went for me, i guess that was it with the Hv20. XLR adapter, shotgun mic, wide angle, lens hood. Looks pretty much like one but still missing features compared to my prosumer cam.

This post has been edited by FuGZ: Apr 21 2010, 09:57 PM

The list above doesn't sound cheap, unless you get cheap stuff or lotsa DIY involved. How much would you spend each one of those?

Ah that's nice. Well at least you know what you want, you'll get started soon! As for quality produced by your say, don't worry; prosumer cams don't come included with an external LCD, 35mm adapter and such.

I suggest you get started with sound first, you're already ready to shoot a good one by then.

Really? Which prosumer cam comes with a 35mm adapter? the HVX is already in the 20s and the EX3 is in the 30s, both without adapters. After moving to the HMC, my options for a 35mm adapter kit are more expensive than what i could fit on to my HV. As for a better mic, try use a boom, sounds good =) However, too bad the RVM runs over 3.5mm cable. Good for run and gun tho. There are always other ways to incorporate voice over video.

Good for your enthusiasm. The more you guys shoot and edit, progress is being made. Having gear without ideas is outta the window!

-kytz-, i believe there are many camcorders beat the HV30 today in terms of image quality. People loved the hv30 not only for the image but for the manual controls too. Unfortunately, most of the cameras shoot in AVCHD which most people hate to edit with. But transcoding them into another format, better yet into better codecs like DVCPRO(HD), Canopus HQ, Prores makes editing a breeze but you gotta bare the file size.

This post has been edited by FuGZ: Apr 23 2010, 04:18 AM

If the HMC40 is around there, it's a good buy if you don't have a prosumer cam.

I get into quite into trouble shooting for fun in public with my HMC152. I need a small cam!

I'll have a more updated one soon i'll put on my site. It's been a year with this camera already, prolly write up about my workflow as well. I still love it tho, it's a light one.

About RM13k.

The form factor already differs in size which affects the ergonomics of the camera. Hence i'd say, it'd be alot more comfortable with the HMC. Also, you get bigger sensors with the HMC which is going to be handy in low light sensitivity.

Hey at least prosumer cams have XLR inputs as well as phantom power. Comparing the prosumer over to consumer camcorders, the ergonomics or access to these manual controls are always far superior. That sets the HMC40 aside from the TM series.

I'm thinking of selling my HMC for a HPX tho.

which is my point of drawing the fine line between the HMC40 and TM300; accessibility/ergonomics despite the performance. That sorta makes the HMC40 not just a normal camcorder or just a slight upgrade over the TM300.
The HMC150 is a wonderful camera, at least for me. Cheap media cards, highly compressed but convenient for immediate archiving.

This post has been edited by FuGZ: Apr 30 2010, 06:25 AM

If you're serious about the audio video flexibillity, lookout for camcorders that support mic/line in. You have a few options with that jack:
1. Direct in/wireless transmitted from the PA system.
2. XLR adapter with 2 channels, one channel direct in/wireless and the other channel external mic. You can do alot of an XLR adapter.

A camcorder that can turn off the audio gain control/automatic gain on volume would really help.


1. They can differ. My Merkury lens is 67mm and Raybox is 72mm outer. Both 52mm inner.
2. Which 43mm lens? If you're talking about the Raynox, both 52mm and the 43mm have a 72mm outer.
3. I bought it from the Canon service centre. It's original XH-A1 lens hood =D. If you want to look for small ones, ebay's got a bunch!

I think i bought it about somewhere around RM100. Yeap, the local service centre near subang airport.

If budget's not a problem, then you might want to look at video cameras at the prosumer range which gives you the option to enable/disable gain control and volume control for each channel. Standard def would start around RM8k (Panasonic DVX, price has probably dropped) or High Def starts from RM10k. Panasonics and Canons prosumers cams all have XLR input (as well as phantom power support). Not all Sony models include XLR support.

Regardless of the reliability of wireless signal for convenience or cabled application if you're anal, you should always have a sound recorder as secondary recording to put you on the safe side.

If it was a consumer camcorder, you have to make sure that the camera has features to disable automatic gain and the ability to control the audio level (Most, maybe all consumer cams which have these features can't control the volume for each channel separately). A two channel XLR adapter is good enough if the camcorder is able to just turn off the automatic gain control. XLR adapters would have knobs for it's own volume control. So one for line in, and the other external mic. However, remember that XLR only carries one signal per channel. So if you want STEREO sound + ambient sound, that'll be

3 channels = Stereo PA + Mono Ambient
4 channels = Stereo PA + Stereo Ambient

It was 3/4 channels synced into one camera, you might want to check out the Panasonic HVX.

I'm guessing most Canon and Panasonic consumer cams have these 2 important audio features at their upper range. A Canon HV20/HV30/HV40 has these, they may be taped based cameras but a friendlier HDV codec to work with compared to AVCHD. And still there are other brand options of other newer cameras than the Canon HV series.

This post has been edited by FuGZ: May 3 2010, 03:14 AM

There's no problem with wireless, it's just prone to inteference. It might not happen, but if it does, just make sure you have a secondary recording going on just in case if anything goes wrong. Try look at Sennheiser's range.

I just remembered there's another camera model with 4 audio channel recording; the Panasonic HPX (RM16k, records to P2 cards), cheaper than the HVX (RM20K, records to P2, miniDV). If 2 channel recording is fine, there's the HMC at RM13k (records to SD cards).

Then you have the consumer series, Canon's HFS series or Panasonic's TM or HS series. Remember to test the features you need before buying them. Followed by a 2 channel XLR adapter, make your choice if you need phantom power.

The cheapest option would be, RCA to stereo line if you don't mind ambient and music both mono. Since you have a PA system, volume of each channel output controlled. And a wireless transmitter can be thrown into the mix. All the best!

This post has been edited by FuGZ: May 3 2010, 02:26 PM

P2 altogether is better for editing, delivery and has more detail as it's 4:2:2 colour space. Maybe look into the HPX, minus the miniDV feature. It's cheaper.

The transmitter can be a power plugged type or a portable. Of course, portable uses battery, and so does the receiver in both cases.
You'll have to check with the specs of the power plug transmitter whether it accepts DI.

I'm curious to know, by what terms?
Consumer camcorders gives quite a mighty fight depending on the shooting environment.

kaspersky-fan, good choice on the TM700! I love that tiny little beast! Have you tried searching for a 3rd party battery pack on ebay? There are some reputable 3rd party brands when it comes to digital electronics battery.

davidhomestudio,
i saw some samples on the XR series, pretty cool stabilization with the active image thing. Pretty nice camera to point and shoot quickly with, plus from this generation onwards, these consumer cams include shutter and iris control. About the quality, it's not horrible but i guess the TM700 is rather more appealing due to different types of progressive recording modes.

dwRK,
Audio is longer than the video? Which file system is this, or do you mean video format?

dwRK,
i'm assuming you're using the sd60 from what i've read. It's very odd that you get longer audio than the video in one single stream/file. What editing software do you use? I've never had such problems with AVCHD.

kaspersky-fan,
the only 3rd party battery i've tried is for my Canon hv20. it was one of those which claimed it has no memory effect. It wasn't one of those that were ridiculously cheap compared to the rest, the price was slightly higher than the average price of 3rd party batteries. It still works well after 2 years of usage till today. Might wanna head to dvinfo or dvxuser to find out what other brands people have tried, that's how i knew on which one to get back last time.

I do have the vbg260 which came included with my panny. It lasts 90 mins, how long does your vbg130 last for you?

yeap, VBG260's the standard included battery that comes with my HMC152, just plain 90 mins my side. Then i got the VBG6 which lasts for 4 hours. Geeez, my panny is such a battery guzzler!

kaspersky-fan,
for the VBG6, i had no choice. There were only originals during the time i got the camera. However, I'd trust them 3rd party ones over the imitation ones.

dwRK,
man that sucks. never had such an issue even when working with converted intermediate formats in both FCP and CS4 or with native AVCHD in CS5.