CompuServe Messages

hi david, deciding whether to get a hi-8 or svhs camera is your first order of business. the former is rapidly becoming the favorite aquisition method, largely because of smaller camera size and vast improvements in hi-8 tape quality. i can't think of too many reasons to get a 455, unless size does not matter and cost is very important. and despite panasonic and jvc efforts to the contrary, there are fewer and fewer svhs cameras being made every year. are your editing playback decks svhs or hi-8? either format can be used as an edit playback master now. hopefully you won't have to use the camera for this purpose, it is simply not durable enough. i own both an l1 and an l2. they are great cameras, the lenses are far better than either the vx3 or the 455. however, if you shoot stuff like weddings all the time you probably don't need interchangeable lenses. i do drag racing, car shows, and sports stuff, so i could never get by on the dinky lenses the other guys use. however, i have heard nothing but good about the picture quality of the vx3, if i could not afford the evw300 or the toshiba tsc line i would love to have one. the only drag with the vx3, and the thing that removes it from serious semi-pro use, is the non-adjustable audio. check this out throughly before you buy one, sony was so stupid about not including this feature on this camera. as for comments regarding red bleeding on the l2, i can say red is the hardest color to get right under ntsc, and no camera in your price range will get it 100% right. the vx3, with the best image quality, stands the best chance out of the three to get the reds done right. i have noticed that bright reds on my cameras tend to bleed, but facial tone and body color are great if you do a white balance before shooting. if you go hi-8, which i would recommend, use fuji m221e tape. it's the best thing out there, although i have heard sony came out with a new tape stock… has anyone used it yet? lastly, don't worry about all that consumer vs. professional b.s. it is something panansonic revels in, yet they put a tv tuner in their 1970, which obviously makes it a consumer deck, yet it is sold by their professional division. and check out the sony tr700, it is a great camera! dan