Opinions Wanted: Looking to upgrade to my first 'pro' camera

[liberty610]

Hey everyone,

I have been doing video editing for a little over 10 years now. Nothing real heavy, just family videos, wedding DVDs/Blu Rays ect. I have never really had a 'professional' camera to shoot with, and I am looking to make the jump into an entry level camera for more serious shoots. I live in a small town, where there isn't a lot of options for video guys, and the ones doing it are charging ridiculous prices and don't know what they are doing over all. So i am looking to jump into a new camera.

I started out on the Canon HV30 in 2008, and then in 2012 I purchased the Sony HDR-CX580, which is currently my only camera. I have been doing audio work for bands for years, so I have a lot of higher end audio gear, but a lot of it is stationary and can't go with me on video shoots. I need a camera that is a solid run and gun camera that I can either pick up and start shooting in full auto mode, or use it on shoots where I can have full control over the camera. I will be doing several live concert events, music video shoots, and sit down interview type settings.

For this camera, I would rather stay in the ball park of $1200.00 to $1600.00 max. I don't have a lot of other video gear yet, and I am trying to make room in my budget for a decent tripod and some shotgun mics. Because of the price point at the moment, I am currently looking at the JVC GY-HM170UA 4K camera. I know 4k won't be a huge demand, but I plan on making use of it for my own personal projects, as I have seen what you can do with it as far as cropping when pushing a final render in regular HD without causing distortion/pixelation issues. I also would like 4k to be an option for the future, as it becomes more of a popular standard in the coming years. I am sure I will get even a better camera down the road when that happens, but the option will at least be there.

I originally was looking at the Sony AX100, but it lacks a lot of the manual controls unless you fiddle around within the on screen menus, and even then a lot of them are not accessible on the fly. The setup on it is much like my CX580 as far as menu navigation goes. It's more of a consumer camera, or I guess 'prosumer' camera. The main attraction to that camera is it's larger 1 inch sensor, but the JVC has a lot more manual options I need, and right now, I have a chance to get one for $1300.00 that comes with the XLR handle add on, and even a shotgun mic is included. I'm sure the shotgun mic I purchase down the road will be better, but it's a decent start.

I am totally new to the professional camera world. I have never shot with one yet, but I do try to make best of the manual options in my CX580. But I have a few projects coming up this year that will require a a better camera with on the fly manual ajustments. The JVC camera has a massive amount of options for customizing, with 9 programmable buttons on it. I have watched a few videos on the camera, and it looks pretty good overall. Here are a couple links to some of the videos, including a low light test with increasing gain settings (I know he is using the VC GY-HM200 camera, but they are bother the same camera except the 200 adds a SDI port and live streaming capabilities, which I do not need):

Overall look at the camera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyXJX7pJt0s
Low light look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wU7xrEtlZ8

Any thoughts or opinions for me? What do some of you think about this camera? Thanks in advance for any replies.

[glenpinn]

Hi, are you intending to shoot 4k, and will you be retaining 4k video after editing, or will you be down scaling to 1080p.

Personally i would not touch that JVC camera, especially that it only has the 1/2.3 sensor, personally i think the Sony AX100 kills it for less money, and it is a smaller camera, has a 1" sensor, and with the new firmware update it bumps the 4k from 60Mbps to 100Mbps, and it seriously is a killer camera, especially with the 1" sensor having better low lite capabilities.

Or you can hold out and buy the new Sony AX53, still has he smaller 1/2.33 sensor, but it does have the new stabilization system, very fast Autofocus, and 4k XAVC-S @ 100Mbps.

I still cannot decide if to go for the older AX100 with the new firmware update and 1" sensor, or wait for the AX53 in March.