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General discussion

Camera choice for a film-maker

Feb 9, 2006 12:26AM PST

I've been looking at making an independent film in the near future, but while I can write scripts and build props, I'm a little lost as to the actual shooting part of the film.

As the film is extremely low budget, I obviously want a camera that is as cheap as possible, but I would also like a good picture. The camera would need to be able to support an external microphone (and perhaps several, if this is possible?), and I would also like to be able to record to a hard drive, as I could employ a laptop and a portable hard-drive to store about 300g of footage and save money on DVDs. I'm not sure if it would be possible to record directly to the hard drive or laptop, so perhaps someone who knows better than I could tell me? Presumably there would be no drop in quality using this method rather than recording directly to DVD?

As far as pictures go, as I've said, I'm no expert on this matter. Will the price of the camera really make an astonishing amount of difference to a scene shot from a tripod indoors, in good lighting conditions? What are the most important features to get on a camera?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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Camera choice for a film-maker
Feb 9, 2006 6:25AM PST

Pro cameras start in the $2000 range and can go into orbit from there.
"I obviously want a camera that is as cheap as possible, but I would also like a good picture." MiniDV is the way!
Forget DVD camers,,junk. Consumer Hard Drive camers are so-so.
For pro cameras you can get external firewire HardDives, XLR mic connections, if want more than two mics then a mic mixer is needed.
If the laptop has firewire you could do a live capture from the camera. You need a big HardDrive in the laptop.
Here is a link that may help. John

http://www.tsof.edu.au/resources/video/howto/

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Thanks
Feb 9, 2006 8:55AM PST

Cool, thanks for the info. Having more than one mic isn't really that essential, but I like the idea of a live capture onto the laptop. I can just shift that over to the portable hard drive as I work.

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one area of help
Feb 10, 2006 5:07AM PST

Okay while I know your not a big operation, getting a proper camera is outta the question. However you still have options. The camera is a very important piece of equipment. If you can't afford to dive into the HDV line, a mini-dv camcorder will work, and the latest lines from the manufacturers are a new Hard drive recording system, no tape, no dvd, hard drive. Around 130 gb.

But since your looking for one for sure and possibly two external mic inputs your gonna be hard pressed to find a consumer grade camcorder that has that. They have chopped that option out in most consumer camcorders to help keep costs down. THere is the Sony hcr- (top model) that has the hot shoe for and external mic, and the canon optura 50. but beyond that your SOL.

If you need those features and cant afford it here is my suggestion, go to the a/v dealer in your area, (not a consumer place ) and find one that has rentals. Renting a camcorder and lighting and the whole picture of needed equipment may be the way to go. If you rent for longer periods of time and or more than one piece of gear a really low price deal can usually be worked out.

If you have 6 grand lying around I recommend you buy HDV-Z1U. amazing camera for your purposes.

Hope this helps

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The cameras with a hard drive are a definite question
Feb 10, 2006 5:39AM PST

mark. Some high end cameras, like the Canon XL2, have this as an option. However, consumer level cameras are usually compressing the video to gain recording time. They will produce inferior video. Given your finances, you should stay with mini-DV.

Audio is a problem. It seems that external mic capabilities are being dropped at the consumer level. If you can find one that accepts a mic, preferably stereo, adaptors can be purchased which will allow the use of XLR mics. Adaptors like this one mount to the bottom of the camera. One of the downsides is that may may need to be dismounted to change tape.