I'm new here and have a few questions

[dgrabows]

Hello folks , first time poster at this forum !

I am a small studio owner ( in house) shooting still wedding and portrait photography professionally in that venue for 12 years or there abouts. Been around still cameras since in the 1950s when my dad let me shoot his Kodak Brownie at the ripe age of 8. We have also shot a lot of family, vacation shots etc. of course , just everyone else. However video is a different animal, I don't know squat about it ( Hard Drive, Mini, SD card, HD vs standard format is about all I've read about at this point) !!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually my wife has the interest, she is a good part of my helping hand, but she thought she would like to start shooting video of our Grand Kids performances in dance , and maybe we could include a little video in the business as well. On the other hand I'm the more technical person, so she is less likely to ask many questions ( like buying a car based on color for instance ).

I suspect I'll have questions very soon on how best to proceed. So far the interest seems to be leaning towards hard drive and maybe a price point of $900-$1400. We both have taken an early liking to the JVC-GZ7. That's just in initial impression though, we know there are many more out there.

Thanks for the look see and any suggestions or thoughts welcome !!

David G.

[Skyman]

i suggest you have a look at the mini dv vs dvd thread as this may help you to navigate a lot of the miss information and jargon that is out there. from there i recommend you check out the reviews section of this site. you may also like to think about thing like how you are likely to share and store your video and how much editing you are likely to do. also digital video editing can be a little time consuming when you are getting started but the rewards from having an entertaining home movie as apposed to the sort of home movie that sends the neighbors to sleep cannot be underestimated. if you have any questions feel free to drop us a line, and share your experiences. one thing you will notice is that many of the skills that go into making a great photo also apply to making a great video!