I work for a non-profit and have been tasked with upgrading our severely out of date video equipment. We currently don't have the capability to switch to HD, but it seems like everyone will be working with HD in the near future and we'll want to keep up with other non-profits. So my dilemma is whether I should buy an HD camera or not. I was thinking about the Sony HVR-Z5U, which we would just record SD with until we are ready for HD in a few years. Or would it be wiser to go with a great SD camera, like the Panny AG-DVX100B? We probably won't be getting budget for another upgrade in at least 5 years (to give you an idea, our video camera right now is the TRV-900...yikes!). So what do you think? Spend a little less on the SD, which might be pretty obsolete by the time we're ready for another upgrade, or spend a little more for HD that won't be used by us for quite awhile?
Thanks guys!
If you're not upgrading for five years, I'd definitely get an HD camera. If the Z5 is anything like the Z1 then you can shoot HD and then output from the camera as SD DV format for editing; then if you ever have to produce an HD version of your videos you have the HD footage there to use you just have to recapture the relevant parts in HD.
For a non profit organization how about superzoom/bridge digital cameras. These cameras take nice photos in 10-12 megapixels yet take 720p-1080p hd's with 15-30x zoom. In the last few months I've being playing with one superzoom with both photos and hd videos. I'd say these are quite a nice tool for documenting activities yet very budget friendly. sony canon panasonic olympus all of them have a competing models.
