K+ for some relevant advice
I'm wondering what camera to get to film with. I already have a gopro HD Hero, which is good for what it does, but looking for something a tad easier to actually frame stuff with and get more aesthetically pleasing shots. I'm looking to film almost entirely skiing. I have some filming and editing experience (I used to make short documentaries, but mostly shooting on MiniDV and Hi8). I edit using final cut pro (I think it's 6 I have on my mac - not looked in ages - the one before studio came out anyway). I do a fair amount of followcams and I want to improve their quality. I also want something that is good for static shooting as-well. Something relatively weather resistant would be good too (my old Canon XM2 is more sensitive than a fat chick at that time of the month).
I have a budget of around $900 (£600) at a maximum, but I'd also like to get some kind of super basic glidecam / steadycam with that budget.
I've been looking at the Canon 550D - but it seems a bit pricey, and actually a bit dodgy. Whilst the reviews online are good, two of my friends who have them both have the same issue where this weird little bar (sort of like a battery bar - but not the battery bar itself) pops up mid-screen and it just stops recording - apparently this is something to do with the write speed (but we tried to fix it by getting faster SD cards - but to no avail).
I think I'd prefer an SLR with HD video capacity just because there seems to be so much more you can do with the lens, focus and field depth of shots, and they just seem to produce really nice looking footage. However I'm not against getting a pure HD video camera that I can then attach various filters to to attempt to get the same effects. I know far more about SLRs than I do pure HD video cameras. If I got a HD video camera I wouldn't want one that records to hard drive - I'd far prefer SD cards (saves hassle and easily interchangable with my gopro and my SLR). I don't really know that much so +K for help even if it's just saying what you film with and the pros and cons. I
