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The GH1 is much smaller than the Canon 5d and 7d cameras and it has some significant advantages for doing video (particularly quiet autofocusing) combined with a decent mixer ( http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mx2master.htm) you will get far better quality than you could from a traditional video camera.
Nikon also makes a couple of cameras that can record high quality video, but of all of those cameras, the one that's probably best suited for documentary work is the GH1. The Canon 5d Mark II, 7d, Nikon D3S, etc. can all record really high quality video, but autofocus is unusable due to all of the noise the lenses (none of which are designed for video) make for narrative film making. If you don't care about autofocus, that isn't such a concern if you always use manual focus with a focus puller.
By the way, the super awesome thing about the GH1 is you can basically put any lens ever made on it (manual focus at least). You can buy old manual focus lenses from the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. throw them on there and get completely different looks and abilities on the cheap.
✔ Highest voted answer
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its the smallest mirrorless camera that sports a aps-c sensor. its like the Canon 7D, only small and light. and the af is decent for this type of camera.
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The Sony HDR-CX7 AVCHD is an exceptional quality camera, not just for a camera of it's compact size, but for any size. Depending on the nature of the documentary you are filming, you may really be relying on those spontaneous moments where you need to be able to whip out the camera on short notice and get that footage while you can. I've been there and this camera is perfect for just those moments, at only 2 pounds I can practically carry it around in my pocket!
It shoots at full 1080 HD and the picture quality easily rivals higher end pro-sumer models like the HV20 or XH-A1, not to mention those are like 3 times the size! The tape less delivery system alone makes this camera worth the purchase. I've dealt with DV tapes & mini-DV most of my career and in any kind of lengthy production I will undoubtedly end up with a pile of tapes, which must be digitized real-time into the computer before I can even begin editing, needless to say it's a huge time drain! The video is stored on a flash card, these cards generally can't store as much video as a DV tape but that is not a huge drawback, I keep my laptop handy to transfer off the card when it's full, takes only a few minutes, it's great!
I would recommend this model to any amateur videographer out there, it's portable, efficient and shoots great HD, what more could you want?
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Get it with the kit lens and then the 1.8 50mm lens (only ~$100). Great for the talking head portions. I have just gotten done filming almost a whole documentary entirely with this camera. The 1.4 lens has no zoom so it can be frustrating setting up a shot, but the colors that come out of it are amazing, along with the depth-of-field you can get with it that helps it look like real film.
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I have one of these and its really good for video but for shooting a documentary you are going to run into some weaknesses.
It is not compatible with most external microphones (shotgun mics and so on) so you might have to go to a few stores to find a mic that is specifically made for this camera.
Also the camera struggles to focus with high speed movements and action shots. If you are shooting slow movement then you should be great. It just gets a lil blurry with fast moving objects in frame.
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Did some of you miss that? It has 1080P with HD, doesnt get better than that. This camera is awesome! When my grandfather passed away, he left me all his camera equipment and since I'm better with digitals, I bought this one and just used my grandfathers lenses with it, since I had them and he had so many different kinds. Having to by lenses are way too expensive. Did my first little film as a gift for my mom in my grandfathers name, she absolutely loved it!
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This camera is cool! It takes good pictures but it makes filming look like professional work! Its pretty compatible with all my lenses too which is cool. I highly recommend this one! what are you filming?
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