Which camera is better?

I wanna shoot a few shorts to build a portfolio in order to get funding to film one of my screenplays and hopefully more afterwords. So for shooting shorts that will be winners at the film festivals, I need the camera that will qualify for to be seen as a good director. I am shooting on very low micro budgets though and need some advice. I've done research and so far there are two HD cameras out there, that are cheap, yet seem to be the best choices to meet the standards of being good enough quality to catch the critics eyes.

The Canon Rebel T2i HD and the Canon HV30 HDV. Which camera is better quality and why? And are they both qualify-able for film festival standards to break into the business? And if possible are there cameras with that good of quality, that are even cheaper? I also wanna shoot in 4:3 ratio, if those offer that. Thanks.
 
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Between those two, I would go with the T2i, because of it has newer technology and gives amazing depth of field. You'd need to buy batteries, lenses, and other random accessories to make it function like a proper camcorder though, making it a lot more expensive than the HV30.

And its all digital, compared to the tapes of the HV30.
However, if you put a t2i next to a nice new camcorder, I would almost certainly go with the camcorder because of personal preference.
 
Between those two, I would go with the T2i, because of it has newer technology and gives amazing depth of field. You'd need to buy batteries, lenses, and other random accessories to make it function like a proper camcorder though, making it a lot more expensive than the HV30.

And its all digital, compared to the tapes of the HV30.
However, if you put a t2i next to a nice new camcorder, I would almost certainly go with the camcorder because of personal preference.

The HV30 has tapes? I though it was digital? Oh is that what HDV means? Video as in video tape?

It would also help to pick one, if anyone can tell me any movies that were shot with either of those two cameras. Movies that are successful, and therefore easy to find though.
 
Like almost all comparisons it's virtually impossible to judge. You don't know what glass they used, what the ISO was, what the exposure was set on where the contrast, hue, saturation, etc... were set.

The HV30 is a good cam and was ALL the rage before DSLR blew up. For "film" you'll need to put a lens adapter on almost any consumer cam you use though. So figure that into the cost.

You can get an HV30 with a Letus or Jag 35 adapter in the $600 to $800 range these days as people dump them for DSLR.
 
Don't forget to budget for sound, both production and post. More films are rejected by festivals for poor sound than any other technical reason.

Sound is half of the experience.
 
Quick on the draw today Alcove...
Yep, bad sound and MUSIC THAT INFRINGES COPYRIGHT, both send a ton of films to the dustbin.

Yes I forgot to ask about sound when I made the post but I meant to. Maybe if the Canon T2i has extra stuff you need on the side it's not the cam for me. Is there a camera like the HV30 that uses a digital card, to store the data that can be reused, as oppose to using tapes? And for sound I want a camera that you can plug microphones into, that can store to the same card, rather than using a separate audio recording system. Any cameras with those features in the same price range as the HV30?
 
Cause most movies are shot in that, or in around 2:35 in other words. I wanna by a camera in this week or next though hopefully, because I have got a direcotr of photography, and currently casting. He needs to know which camera I will pick but he is not familiar with those kinds of cameras. He's only used more expensive digital cinema ones, so I will have to pick the cam, since it's my budget and all.
 
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Most use 4:3 and a lot do use 16:9. But since most use 4:3 I thought I'd go with that. I need to make a decision soon though. Are they any cameras around the same price as the HV30 or the T2i, with the features I need?
 
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Most movies in theaters are 1.85:1 or 2.39:1. 16:9 (1.78:1) is the current standard for HDTV. 4:3 (1.33:1) is the old standard for "full screen" TV.
 
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As for cameras, out of the two you listed the T2i will give you a more film-like image. Any small sensor video camera is going to look like video without a lens adaptor and some glass. Then you start getting into lost light, and it's really not worth the effort. You haven't mentioned anything about other equipment you have. You'll at least need a tripod. Also, lighting is essentially a requirement. Without decent lighting any image is going to look subpar and amateurish. You also didn't give an actual budget for audio. The camera is actually less important than some of these other areas.
 
Oh okay. I got 4:3 mixed up with 2:35. My bad. I want 2:35 or the equivalent to 35mm. Another thing is I was reading reviews of how some filmmakers were disappointed in their sound, cause some camcorders and DSLRs have crappy sound from the external mic inputs. Is that true that even if you use external mics, the sound will still be poor quality?

The thing is, is that the people at the camera shops and the cameras online to buy advertise the cameras and make them look so good, and every time I come close to buying there is always a feature I could use that's missing. I guess I could try to find a store with a return policy, that lets you return if I were duped into buying a cam with a disadvantage but I would rather get some good honest info on which ones are the ones for me, before I buy.
 
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The DSLRS do not have good sound. You will improve your filmmaking greatly by getting external sound with at least a Zoom H4N or a Tascam digital recorder. Remember.. it is not so much the tool, but the hands that guide them
 
You won't be shooting 2.39.1 without incredibly expensive anamorphic lenses. You'll shoot in 16:9. You can crop the image to whatever aspect ratio you want in post, though you'll be losing resolution doing that.

As for sound, DSLRs have horrible audio implementation. There is no headphone jack to monitor audio, so you won't know if the audio is good until you play it back to review it. They also lack XLR inputs. I highly recommend getting a separate audio recorder such as the Zoom H4n that has XLR inputs. If you intend to record sound directly to the camera, make sure it has XLR inputs and a headphone jack.

EDIT: IndieBudget beat me to the punch.
 
Oh okay. Another thing is I was reading reviews of how some filmmakers were disappointed in their sound, cause some camcorders and DSLRs have crappy sound from the external mic inputs. Is that true that even if you use external mics, the sound will still be poor quality?

Think of sound as a whole seperate thing from images if you are interested in making movies. There are tons of resources online as well as this forum if you do a thorough search.

As a camera operator, I can get decent sound recording it externally with the appropriate mics, however sound is a trade in itself and you can only get great sound from great sound people.
 
Do either of those cameras have options to plug in external sound while shooting? I heard the Canon T2i does, but some have complained that the sound sucks. It would help if I saw a movie that was recorded with one of these cameras too. Anyone know any that movies that are successful enough that they are easy to find? I've experimented with cameras here and there to practice for movie shooting. A lot of cameras have those video displays instead of a scope you look through. The video display has crystal clear picture while shooting. But when I play it back through an HD tv, the picture quality is blurry and murky looking with some. I could use a camera that looks just as good in the display as it does on a tv, so you know what you're recording.

The camera shops in my city don't have cameras of these caliber on hand, and I will have to specially order one. So if it turns out it doesn't have a feature I need, and I have to take it back, then I will have to wait for another one to be ordered, which will delay production. So I need to know which one exactly ahead of time.
 
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