On (02 Feb 95) Manuel Coats wrote to Kn4aq Gary...
 MC> Would it be in my best interest to buy one of the lowe end
 MC> betacams I have seen advertised for around $8,000 or go with the
 MC> very high end $8,000 SVHS camera? Since I will be working
 MC> Non-Linear, I won't have any incompatabilities as far as editing
 MC> decks go. I have never used anything but SVHS so I am curious
 MC> about these matters.
Try renting each for a week, putting them next to each other as you
shoot the same shots - some in a studio, some outdoors, in a variety
of lighting challenges (backlit, sidelit, spotlit, high contrast, fog
or smoke, reflections from water, etc.).  Then put both of the tapes
into your nonlinear system (rent it for a couple of days if you don't
have it yet), and have someone else cut the shots at random and keep a
record of which shot came from which camera.  Check if you can tell
the difference with a high-quality studio monitor, then also run off a
VHS copy and check it on a home VCR.
If you can't tell a difference, or it's very minor and you think your
clients wouldn't mind, go for the SVHS.  It's more widely available
and the tape and equipment costs less.
if you see that Betacam has a much better picture quality, and you
like the sturdier professionalism of the equipment, and you think it's
worth having to spend twice as much for blank tape, and perhaps also
more money for the equipment, go with Beta.  You'll be able to use the
same gear longer before needing to trade up, you'll be able to get
some higher-end jobs because of the better equipment, and you'll have
a slightly more impressive looking demo tape of your early work when
you go looking for additional jobs.
Try it out for yourself!  I think it would be worth spending 10% of
your total budget on rental fees and tape stock, just to be confident
in your final decision.
... Head for the roundhouse, they can't corner you there!OJW
--- PPoint 1.88
---------------