of kids want an iPad
The Nielsen Company presented a cadre of individuals with a list of nice, shiny gadgets and let them cross off anything and everything they'd like to buy in the next six months, and 31 percent of kids 6-12 picked the iPad as one of them.
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Anyone who thinks DSLR is going to shoot better video than a dedicated camcorder does not understand CMOS sensors and how digital videography or photography works. Read some articles on that to get an understand of how to compare apples to oranges.
The best sub-$1000 camcorder is the Canon Vixia HF S21 (S21 has a viewfinder, S20 and S200 do not). Probably the best thing you can do is take the suggestions on this forum or Google "best camcorder" and then do some searches on Vimeo (or Youtube HD, though Vimeo keeps quality better) for video shot with this or that camera. That should answer a lot of your questions.
@antparrott Having read a lot of articles on the matter. . .
It depends on what you need in your work. If you need to be able to hand-hold the camera while talking to your subject and you don't have any other crew, the camcorder's going to be much better. If you can use a tripod, and you want tight control over your depth of field, focal length, aperture, etc., etc., there's no camcorder under $1k (or even near $1k) that's going to work as well as a DSLR.
To put it another way, if you're willing to limit what and how you're filming to play to your camera's strengths, you can do much better with a DSLR. If you're more interested in focusing on what you're filming rather than struggling with the quirks and limits of DSLR filmmaking, you'll have better results with a camcorder.
Either way you're going to end up with an image that will be distinguishable from a real camera at DVD quality, and maybe even at VHS quality.
@antparrott I opted for the s20 after doing the research. It's been great and I highly recommend it.
@antparrott
Well, the viewfinder issue is merely a matter of preference. Some people like looking through a viewfinder and some like looking at the LCD, while otheers (such as myself) prefer to hook up to an external monitor.
The rolling shutter issue is a problem with dedicated videocameras as well. What defines the problem is not the camera but more an issue as to whether thee sensor usees rolling shutter or global shutter, and most cameras use rolling shutter as of this time. Now, the rate at which the rolling shutter progresses affects how much wobble you see,
I think a lot of videographers are afraid of the new tools, and want to justify their $5000 purchase. But being biased because of the tools we alreaady have does us a greeat disservice. I say roll with the times, adopt the new tools that can benefit us and grow with our trade, or we risk losing work to the younger videographers out there who have already adopted the new tools. The advantage is still ours. Experience + new/better tools = better product.
@jb523
Great response. My 2 cents... I am a professional videographer by day and hobbyist videographer by night. Buying into the hype of DSLR video, I sold my Canon DSLR (Rebel XTi) and VIXIA HF100 to upgrade to the Canon 550D (Rebel T2i) for my hobbyist duties. Video image quality and depth of field are fantastic using a tripod or shooting free with minimal movement. But the constant refocusing is not practical for chasing my toddler around with it, which as it turns out, will likely be the extent of my hobbyist artistic endeavors for a few years to come... So if you really need one unit that "does it all" with minimal tweaking and low learning curve, I would go with the VIXIA line. You can get the highly rated HFS100 for under $800 now.