Video camera recommendation

[carolyn]

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking of making a short film and wondered if anyone had any recommendations regarding the type of video camera to use. Not too expensive though. Do the little handheld screens do widescreen shots as well please. Any hints or tips would be welcomed. I would then be working with the Mac.

Thanks,


Carolyn x

[Dazza]

Hi Carolyn there is a thread kicking about somewhere in the film making section about cameras. Starting out don't bother spending a fortune you can get something good enough from the web for £100 or less. Just ensure the camera you use is digital so go for something with digital tape, mine DV, DVD even. Then its best if you have a camera and computer with firewire but if your computer doesnt have a firewire you can still upload the film using USB so that isnt essential.

The problem you will always have with cheap cameras is sound as they tend to have built in mikes. I use a Sony Handycam as its more or less all I can afford and does the job for the moment.

All you need is a good idea and a basic camera. If you have a good story, charecters and a basic camera people will watch it if you have a state of the art camera costing £2500 and a shit story they wont.

Heres what you can do with a cheap camera, some editing software and a little time and effort and might help give you a bit of an idea, its my last short film I made a few weeks ago:



and another:




Best of luck and enjoy making your film!!! ;D

[RydCook]

Hey hey. Firstly i'd say definitely go for DV cameras, sure HD is a lot better quality, but it takes up a tonne more space, unless you have a lot to spare? Or are just planning on making one film? They're also very expencive at the moment. So i'd say stick with DV for now, apparently HD is rather hard to work with as well. Maybe someone who has experiance in HD can fill you in there.

Secondly I'd always recommend canon cameras in my experiance a Canon has never let me down (apart from getting too old, but that happens to every camera.) I have a Sony atm (not out of choise, it was a free replacement for my old canon) which is okay, it seems to be more of a gadget with its touch screen and all. And it takes silly sony memory duo sticks, and a different special sony av adapter which is all very silly. If you're not lookin for too expencive go for a camera around 300 quid, and cameras in these range do usually have a widescreen setting (my sony one does) so i wouldn't worry about that. Actually, just done a search on google, and you can get these sorts of camera for uner 200 quid now!

To sum up, i'd recommend DV, canon camera, with widescreen. and they seem easy to find. Then all you need is a Firewire cable (which sony cool iLink or something stupid) to upload onto your mac, very simple.

Also i'd recommend you just pop into your local Jessops and just ask and I've always found them to be very helpful indeed.

Holp this has helped ;D

[carolyn]

Thanks both. I will try and find a good camcorder as soon as I can afford it.

Carolyn x

[wiggy]

hello there and welcome, yeah to start off with any old cheapy will do just so you can get the hang of filming and learn the basics, as regard to widescreen, I'm not sure but i don't think the cheaper cameras do true widescreen but instead squeeze the footage somewhat. try and find a camera that will let you tweak manual settings so that you learn some basic skills, try and get one with dv in/out so that when you have edited some footage on a computer you can export it back to your camera.
as regards to hdv, I have a sony hvr-v1e and the file size isn't that much bigger than dv because of the hdv codec, also it edits just the same, just takes a little longer to render when you have transitions etc. i wouldn't go for a dvd camera, stick with mini dv.
a couple of cameras worth checking out all for less than three hundred quid and all scored over 92% in digital video magazine are canon mv880x (true widescreen) jvc gr-d340 and
jvc gr-df420, ( both won best buy)
basically read lots of customer reviews and then google the one you fancy for the best price
ps try a few out in comet etc and then search online for the best price.

[grak]

To answer the HD question, it´s out of budget! The HDV cam´s aren´t particularly up to much and are no improvement over mini DV really. Sony produce the XDCAM format which isn´t too bad and panasonic has a HD format which is called P2. The important thing is not the amount of hard drive space for storage (any camera under 5000 quid is going to involve compression anyways) but what your editing platform can handle. Many indie ones struggle with anything but avi capture, which is fine if you stick to mini DV. Pinnacle is a nice user friendly one, as is final cut pro and adobe premiere.
I would personally recommend shooting on a panasonic DX100, the camera is dated (but you could probably ebay one cheap) but it has a carl zeis lens on the front (the glass is always the most important) and well produced CCD´s (the cameras seeing eye brain). It also shoots in 24p which is a lovely way of making your film look more filmy if you are unsure of tricks and tips in post production. Failing that, the XL 1. for one, it looks class and secondly you look very professional stepping outdoors with it.

[wiggy]

grak said:

To answer the HD question, it´s out of budget! The HDV cam´s aren´t particularly up to much and are no improvement over mini DV really. Sony produce the XDCAM format which isn´t too bad and panasonic has a HD format which is called P2.

don't know which hd cameras you have tried but my hv1 footage is fantastic, and it shoots in 25p the standard in europe plus we are using a panasonic hvx200 and that footage is awsome, besides i think carolyn is actually after something a lot cheaper than a hdv cam for now!

[carolyn]

Thanks to all for their help. I will study what you have said shortly.

Thanks again.

Is anyone in touch with any actors near Birmingham please.

Carolyn x

[Dave]

Definitely do not worry about HD cams!

It doesn't matter what you film it on if you make something good... as DazzaB has said.
I'm really keen to see beginner's films... more so than swanky well polished efforts. It's just a personal fascination I have in seeing what people can achieve with very little. Plus you can always see talent even in the most amateurish looking effort.

Go for it!

[Dazza]

You wanna see the two new comedy films I have planned then Dave I think they will be right up your street mate. Still finishing the scripts and then when I can get a gang together will begin the filming. I'm excited already lol ;D

[carolyn]

Thanks again to everyone. Also, do you have any book recommendations please?

Thanks very much.

Carolyn x

[billywizz]

carolyn said:

Thanks again to everyone. Also, do you have any book recommendations please?

Thanks very much.

Carolyn x

'Short-Film making for Dummies' by Skint D Rector

Try amazon......

[carolyn]

Thanks Billy. I was going to try Amazon but wondered if anybody knew of anything particularly good.

Carolyn x

[Gareth]

I managed to get a canon xm1 a few months ago for £350 from some bloke advertising on talent circle! try and look around for deals like these!

"Do the little handheld screens do widescreen shots as well" - my old canon did but when I imported it the footage didnt have the wide screen any more, best just mask off the lcd screen and then do it afterwards in the edit, have you got access final cut pro?

as for books:

if you want to write you should definatly read - story by robert mckee, agree or disagree with his theories his books still worth a read, also for writing Yves Lavandier's writing drama is pricey at 30quid but worth ever penny. If you don't want to buy those books then theirs a brilliant free alternative- type into itunes store Creative Screenwriting Magazine and subscribe to their brilliant free podcasts!!

as for a book on directing Moviemakers master class by laurent tirard has interviews with e.g. scorsese, oliver stone, jean luc godard, woody allen, I couldnt recomend this book highley enough!

definatly get creative screenwriting magazines free podcasts though!!!!!

[carolyn]

Thanks Gareth

Carolyn x