I apologize, I looked over all the postings and didn't find an answer to this. I am looking to shoot a documentary, I need something cheap, simple, and that will capture a good image and sound. my main concern is post-production, I need to transfer to video and am clueless as to how to do so. This is for a dissertation-related project and i am not very camera-savvy. any help would be appreciated.

-- athena loudon (flyingtetas@hotmail.com), February 18, 2003

Answers

Athena:

The Cannon XL-1 is an excellent choice for documentaries. I'm shooting for an upper division documentary class at the U of U. We just finished an 8 min project for the Western Conf of Communication Instructors using the XL-1; and our instructor who's produced documentaries for 20+ says the XL-1 is superb.

—Curtis

-- Curtis F. Limbaugh (odysseusreturn@hotmail.com), February 19, 2003.

I used the Canon XL1S for a documentary shoot a few weeks ago and found it really uncomfortable to use. Technically it is a great camera but if you are going to be using it for sustained stretches of time hand held I would not recommend it. The Sony PD150, although more expensive, is a better bet.

-- Liz Smith (lizsmith73@yahoo.com), February 21, 2003.