Buying used gear is always tricky (hell, even buying new camera gear can be tricky, once I bought a 1 chip camera brand new & had to return it to the manufacturer because of a pixel issue on the flip-out LCD display), but if you know who the seller is, I guess the risk is less. Film fest programmer & blogger Tom Hall is selling his VX-2000 3 CCD DV camera. Comes with a shotgun mic & a few other useful things such as a Beachtek adapter if you want to hook up XLR audio cables to the camera (all the info., w/ links to info. on accessories, here). That camera & mic, etc. can be used to shoot features & shorts & whatever else you might want to videotape. Check out the Ebay auction of the camera here, bids start at $999. If the camera is in good shape (Tom says it is, he's gotten it checked out by a service shop, more info. here), it could be a good deal.
And yes, I know a lot of people are thinking about switching over to HD gear, but I feel like I just got my DV filmmaking things set up/not tired on shooting & editing DV yet, I'll be using DV for at least another couple of years; I am not a big fan of people having to replace gear every year or so. Well shot (lit well, etc.) DV can look great either projected on a theatrical size screen or compressed onto a DVD.
- Sujewa
And yes, I know a lot of people are thinking about switching over to HD gear, but I feel like I just got my DV filmmaking things set up/not tired on shooting & editing DV yet, I'll be using DV for at least another couple of years; I am not a big fan of people having to replace gear every year or so. Well shot (lit well, etc.) DV can look great either projected on a theatrical size screen or compressed onto a DVD.
- Sujewa
