501hd vs 503hdv vs 701hdv

The Mark II is a better camera for low light and stock footage, but I have a client that is going to pay me a lot more money to shoot with an EX1, since that is what his company requires us to shoot with... so I say 'why not get a free EX1 plus more money?" No brainer. I have the fx1000 but I am going to sell it. I'm so over ripping tapes haha.

I think I am going to go with the 501 head and 351MV2BK Video Tripod kit . I like those kind of legs.

I added a mrc1 so now I can record both on card and tape as a backup or just on the card.

I've thought about doing that... is it a pain to carry that thing around?

Not really it's attached to my tripod along with a Hi Def monitor. When out in the field shooting everything is attached to the tripod and when finished shooting i store it fully assembled in the back seat. Rarely is it ever disassembled. Now if I had known Sony was going to come out with the NX5U a few months later I would have waited. By adding the MRC1 the total cost was less than the 4000.00 they were asking for the NX5U camera.

For stock or special events the FX1000 works out OK. Using a 32Gb card you can record up to 2.4 hours and double that if using a 64Gb card. Both of which cost under 100 dollars. The nice thing about it is that it can be used on any camera with firewire output even on SD cameras.

I have the manfrotto 745MF3 carbon fiber legs with the 701HDV head. This was the lightest combination I could come up with for multiple cameras - from mini to normal HV prosumer. There always can be a better head! The legs on the other hand, I have never regretted spending the extra cash for, as I am often on a plane with a camera pack, tripod over my shoulder and a personal pack.