Lady Needs Camera

[Peter Stedman]

Very briefly. Our club has a potential new very keen lady member who has background in scripting and direction, however she doesn't have a camera. The club has two XM1 cameras available. One is very dodgy in the picture recording part and the other has no sound recording. This has been so for some time and there seem to be a reluctance to pay big money to get them repaired.

The lady has limited funds (of course) but wants to have a basic camera to proceed on projects in mind. Clearly a S/H camera would suit her. A quick search around has revealed very little. I don't like the idea of e-bay really. I have told her to wait awhile and not rush into things but have advised that a camera with at least a mic input and headphone socket is a must.

So the bottom line is "Where are all the s/h video cameras hiding, after all people are always ugrading to the 'latest'?" and "Has anyone got one to sell that might suit her?"

Pete

[Chrisbitz]

umm, surely all the s/h cameras are on ebay!

I know if I was selling an old camera, that's where I'd sell it...

I advise new camera buyers to buy canon, as at the lower end of the price range, most of them have separate mic and headphone sockets - what I consider to be the absolute minimum for a film maker.

[Peter Stedman]

Thanks Chris,
I have been doing some searching but up till now can't find anything, even on e-bay, at the moment. Mic & headphone sockets seem to be a thing of the past unless one has mega bucks to spend. Pete

[Chrisbitz]

The canon legria FS 20, 21 and 22 all have mic and headphone sockets, and the 20 is around £299.

That's hardly megabucks in camcorder terms, and I'd imagine you'd be hardly likely to get a reasonable filmmakers camcorder for less than that, even on ebay?

hope this helps!

[tom hardwick]

I couldn't and wouldn't advise anyone to go for the XM1, working or not. They could well be 13 years old now, and one look at the delicate cassette deck mechanism should warn you off. Quite right not to get them repaired Peter - it'll probably be a minimum of £178 and you'd still be left with a 4:3 SD camera that was just waiting for something else to give up.

Much better to buy new. Camcorders have never been dinkier, sharper, smaller, cheaper, lighter or cooler, so tell Ladyneedscamera to splash out £299 and never look back.

tom.

[col lamb]

I dont know where on ebay the search has been but if you select Sony > Mini DV > DV in you get masses available

Do remember that the camcorders with enabled DV IN were the top of the range.

My DCR PC 100 is a small palmcorder with large Zeiss lens, manual controls, mike input, headphones, DV in/out. I am looking to sell mine as I am now all AVCHD. £125 inc postage