I'd love a gs400 but I don't think I can afford it. So.. my options are really a used 953 or a new 250.. though after reading the review today, I'm thinking maybe a 150...

Has anyone done or seen any definitive testing between the 953 and 250 (or 200) comparing crispness only?

Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated....

Hmmm. I'm not certain what you mean by crispness. All the cams will have a similar image in good light. In low light, the 953 will have the worst image. I have a 953, and recently returned a gs120 (very similar to 150). I like the 953 a lot better. It is a much more professional cam. But I'm shooting storylines so I must use supplemental lighting anyways, so the low-light isn't much of a factor for me. The image in good light is superb as it is with all these cams.

If you are planning on making indi-films or something of that nature, I would lean toward the 953 or 250. If you are shooting home movies of your kids, I would lean toward the 150, or since you are on a budget, the gs120. I picked up the 120 from Sears for $450, but they are probably $499 at-the-moment. IMO, however, the OIS is more of a factor than the review makes it out to be. But at 1X in good light, you probably won't notice a huge difference. If you are on a tight budget, you can definitely do a whole lot with the 120 though. If I didn't have a 953, I could be happy with a 120 as they are awsome little cameras that are quite good in low light and shoot very good footage.

I would either buy a gs120 now and save money, or I would wait one month for the new shipment of gs400's to hopefully drive the price of everything else down a bit. I notice dv953's are fetching over $800 on ebay these days, which seems a little high to pay to me since before the shortage the gs400 could be had for $1050.

Here is something you might also consider. I'm thinking of upgrading to a gs400 in about a year. If you pick up a gs120 at Sears, you can resell it on ebay and upgrade later having taken a very small loss. If you pick up a 953 and end up buying a bunch of accessories for it, you can sell the 953 on e-bay, and all the accessories will fit the gs400 as long as you buy macros that are known not to vignette on the 400 etc. Just be certain and include accessories in your camera budget, because as soon as you buy one of these cams, you're going to want to buy accessories such as a camera bag, perhaps lights, umbrellas, WA lens, extra batteries, tripod, home-built stabilizer, crane, car mount, and who knows what else. It can get downright contagious if you have any latent filmmaking aspirations. It is actually possible that purchasing a more expensive camera might be more limiting overall because it eats up all of your budget. VistContCreate has done some very impressive work on a GS120 that you can view over at www.pana3ccduser.com.

Update: Before doing anything, wait for Guy Bruner's review of the gs250. It looks like the 250 is 90% of the 400. Right now, it seems if you can't afford a gs400, the gs250 is going to be the next best thing.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I managed to find a 953 at a decent price on ebay... and I am awaiting its arrival (with a little trepidation, I might add, as I've not bought used before without a thorough examination). I'll report back on my ebay experience and first impressions of the camera.

The 953 is a really good camera. To me its limitation is in low light, but what really sold me was I rigged up some inexpensive lights to use while I shoot scenes. These things worked so well and due to the 953 having so many more pro features than the 120, I returned my 120 to Sears. I went over to my friend's house a couple nights ago with camera and lights in hand. We wrote and shot a short movie and had a blast. It was really, really, fun. To get high-quality images, I had to figure out how to light scenes well. I'm still learning, but it is an interesting experience. I've learned a lot just from watching tv and looking at how the light is being used.

The OIS on the 953 is way better than the 120. This is most noticable when zoomed, but even noticable at 1x. The EIS seemed jerky as opposed to the smooth OIS on the 953. Also, the autofocus on the 120 didn't work as well.

Another really great feature of the 953 is the zebra stripes. Due to the limitations of DV cams being able to take images with a large amount of difference between light and dark, it is nice to have the zebra stripes to tell when you are overexposing parts of the image.

Also, since I often record live music, it is really nice to have the ability to adjust the audio levels on the cam and turn off the AGC.

Then there is frame mode, wide mode, a much larger LCD, and other good things that the 953 has over the 120. For being on a tight budget, the 953 is a pretty good way to go if you find one at a reasonable price.

I bought some cheapo cgr320 batteries for the cam that work reasonably well and allow for long shoot times.

http://www.power101.com/camcorder_b...m?cat=panasonic

You can also purchase a 1-year parts and labor warranty for your cam from ebay for about 10% of the price you paid. You have up to 30 days from the time you purchased the item.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/warranty...SerOvrvwWarrByr

I bought two of these light stands and mounted 8 dollar home depot shop lights with 3000k fluorescent tubes for indoor shoots. These are good for brightening up an entire room. Often just one does a pretty good job.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...ase_pid/452019/

Sears has halogen dual-500-watt work lights on sale for 19.95. I rigged up some mounts to put them on the musicians friend's stands in place of the fluorescents when I need this kind of light. I also bought some cheap translucent umbrellas to diffuse the light. These are great for getting the 3-point lighting effect you see in most movies.

Best wishes

My 953 arrived and after a couple days of test shooting, I am suitably impressed.

I may not have mentioned this, but in a former life I was an ENG shooter. I shot principally betacam SP back in the "old days" and I admit to being old enough to watch the transition from 3/4" Umatic to betacam and remembering how "blown away" I was by the betacam image.

I was "blown away" again by the 953. Truly to see such an image come out of a cam that feels so... consumer... is amazing. (no offence to consumers, I am one myself).

I look forward to playing. When my new Mac arrives, I'll try posting some stuff.

Cheers

I'm really glad you like the camera! It is a very good tool. I'm extremely impressed with all of the features on this cam for the money.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the stuff you post.

I've gotten way bogged down in a non-camcorder project that looks like it will take all my time for the next several months, but I have big plans for the future .