Canon 1CCD vs. Panasonic 3CCD - MiniDV Video Cam (1 Viewer)

[Rob Lutter]

I am buying a video camera tomorrow and I thought I'd come ask yer honest opinion. For around the same price ($550) I can get either an open box Panasonic 3CCD MiniDV camcorder (forgot the model number, but it had a manual focus ring [which I wanted] and Leica lens) or a "sealed" Canon 1CCD camera (Optura 20).

I'm a Canon man and have been for several years in the still image area... but the Panny seems to be a better deal. What do you guys think? How are Panny's cams?

 

[Kris McLaughlin]

I'm a big fan of Canon products too, Rob. I have an OpturaPi miniDV cam, an AE-1 SLR, and my digital Rebel should be here on Monday. I've always been very happy with all my Canon purchases. That being said, go for the Panny DV cam.

Their DV cams have a great reputation, in fact their 3CCD DV953 (I think that was the model #) was widely regarded as the best bang for the buck camera out there for quite a while. I would presume that the one you're looking at would be similar, probably an updated version of that model.

A 3CCD model will give you more accurate & pleasing colour reproduction than a single chip cam, many will say you get a sharper image, too. I'm not sure about that, but the colours alone are enough to tip the balance if the price is about the same.

Check out www.dv.com www.dvspot.com and www.dvinfo.net if you haven't already. Tons of great DV camera info on those sites.

Cheers,

 

[Rob Lutter]

Too late *see yesterday*. I already bought the Canon because the Panasonic featured *gasp* no image stabalization according to many sites... a feature that I find pretty important if you're shooting while handheld.

I was also looking at DV spot and the Panasonic I was looking at was REALLY jaggy when filming and had a really strange halo effect around lines. The Canon also had the bigger 3.5" screen, so the choice was easy for me.