Sony fx1, Canon gl1, gl2....ect. what to buy?

you found an fx1 for 999?  thats wayyyy to cheap. im pretty sure they go for around 3000. it has to be a scam. there are alot of websites out there that say they are selling you a camera for crazy cheap and they just rip you off.  so be carefull about that.
anyway it really depends on how much you wanna spend and what type of filming your into.  no camera is really better than another.  Id say stick with a nice 3ccd camera.  dont worry about HD yet, unless you have an hd tv, or can burn hd dvd's then its kinda useless cause its gonna be playing in SD anyway.  and if your gonna put your vid's on the internet its still gonna be SD.  
out of all the good 3ccd cameras the most popular are the dvx100, vx2100, and gl2 ( stay away from a gl1 if you can)  i wouldnt really say any of those are better than another, but if i had to, id say the dvx100 is usually the best choice simply because it has so many manual controls and you can really get the image you want. but that also means you are gonna have to spend alot of time setting up and stuff.  the vx2100 and gl2 are better for point and shoot stuff.
the vx2100 has easily the best low light performance, its amazing how well it does. people usually think vx's are best for "skate style" filming. yeah they are great for it, but you can also get a really good "film" artsy look too. its just more vx users prefer to shoot skate style stuff for some reason.  you can get the colors and everything to be very intense and vivid which i like.
gl2's are great for getting a soft film like artsy picture too. i havent ever used on so i dont know a lot.  but most the footage ive seen is usually pretty soft looking and not to intense, like what you might get out of a vx2100 or dvx.  thats definatly not a bad thing, it can make amazing shots for skiing.
ive seen vx footage that looks better than gl2 and dvx footage, dvx footage better than the others, and gl2 footage better than the others.  you really cant go wrong with either.
and make sure to try and use all manual settings all the time, except for mabye like auto focus every now and then when you have to.  but always manually white balance, do manual exposure, set up all the custom presets for that day etc.  otherwise if you dont you might as well get a 200 dollar handi cam at wal mart cause its gonna look the same.  the  more time you spend setting up and everything the better your footage is gonna look.  

oops,  NOT like what you might get out of a vx2100 or dvx

Hey thanks man that was real helpful.  It never dawned on me the whole HD thing.  but that makes sense now that you explained it.  Who makes those other models that you listed...vdx and ect...

if you have the money for an fx1 defineat;y buy a DVX

you won't find an fx1 for 1000...sorry, but thats proably a scam.  You could probably find a GL2 for that

Yeah I didnt look into these sites, thats where they had them posted for 999

http://www.shopcartusa.com/P_Sony_Handycam_HDR-FX1_hdrfx1/PT_Y/?ic_campID=98

shit my bad

http://http://www.shopcartusa.com/P_Sony_Handycam_HDR-FX1_hdrfx1/PT_Y/?ic_campID=98

fuck, my link messed up... the site is shopcartusa.com  and then i just searched sony fx1 and just saw prices but didnt look at the sites closely

chances are, if you see a price for a new camera and you say "HOLY SHIT, THAT'S SO CHEAP!" it's probably a scam or a bait and switch operation.

If you buy a new camera, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS buy from an authorized dealer.  Check this site out

http://www.resellerratings.com/


and do a search, there are so many threads asking the same questions you are.

You aren't gonna find any of those cameras for a grand, unless they've been pretty used. Just to putt that out there. If you find any of those cameras new for 1000 don't buy them.

the vx2100 and gl2 you might be able to find for like 1400 the vx is probably gonna cost a little more.  and you might be able to find a dvx for like 1500 or 1600 if your way lucky.  these are all used prices by the way.
and the vx2100 is a sony, gl2 is canon, dvx is panasonic. 

thanks man i appreciate the help.  i'll let you guys know what i get when i find the right one...

www.resellerratings.com. Search for the rest.

watch the one video i have in my profile. its shot with a vx2100, its compressed but it still looks pretty good. and you can tell which shots were shot without setting up and which were, so you can get what i mean by how important it is to always setup the camera manually.

if you can find a used dvc 30 that might be your best bet.