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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Need some prosumer camera advice

Thanks for the good advice guys. I am definately going to check out the cannon-sony and Jvc options mentioned.




Glenn your points although valid to some degree are just not the way I tend to work. I always look at a budget and then strive to shoot the best quality possible for that money. Heck if I was to break things down to "I can get away with shooting this in mini dv because it is not that valid to me and the audience will hardly notice." there wold be a bunch of things that I have shot before on film that I would have done in mini dv if I had that attitude. I always want the client to be blown away by how good something looks to them and feel that their choice to hire me was the right one.

I understand with something like this content is king but being a director/dp I just always strive to not forget to shoot the best images possible.


GlennChan said:
I like how this thread is a toys for boys kind of thread. But c'mon people, if you were the target audience and wanted information on an abortion or adoption, I don't visual quality/appeal is high on your list of priorities.

If you were facing an abortion, would you be interested in going for the HD-DVD version over the standard def DVD? (Think about it... :tongue: )

2- But finner, I like how you think. The mindset is very much like you were shooting a narrative film... you gotta ND gel the windows.
Click to expand...
 
for a studio shoot such as finner is describing, what can an XL H1 offer that an XH A1 cannot?

- interchangeable lens mount, don't need that unless you also plan to purchase the 6x wide angle lens for this shoot.

- HD-SDI uncompressed out, don't need that unless you plan to record tethered to a fully tricked out computer or Wafian unit

- shoulder mount capability, which is not great with the H1 anyway, and you will probably be tripod-mounted in the described set-up anyway.

if you rent these cams, there may not be much difference between the rental prices. but if you have it in your budget to buy, then you're talking about a $5-6K difference per camera.

even the HV20 can take a wireless mic set-up with a 1/8'' jack. you can use a shotgun or hypercardioid with a buttplug and get very professional sound, especially with stationary targets such as a talk show set-up.

looking like a pro can be expensive. shooting like one doesn't have to be. it really comes down to what feels good ergonomically, because almost all of these cameras, even the little HV20, can approximate the same image and sound quality.
 
My brother owns the HV20 and I've been playing with it a lot lately... I would never use it and it's 1/8" line in jack for pro audio acquisition. I've played with it with a few different mics and results weren't bad, but I would never choose to use it for anything other than home movies. As for the image, the sensor is incredible for its small size and I'm blown away by the quality out of this little palmcorder. But I would never choose it over an H1... I'm not sure about the A1 as I have not personally used one.

The option to throw that 6X lens on the H1 is reason enough if you'll be shooting a lot of close-quarters and interiors. Better audio functions too.

Then again, I wouldn't turn my nose up at the A1 or G1. I haven't used them, but given the specs for the price, I would definitely consider them.
 
I own a DVX and I was a huge fan for a long time, in fact, I still love mine. But I have to face it, resolution triumphs over almost anything. An HDV with true progressive capabilities make up for a better image after a good tape to tape and downrezzing HDV to DV makes images look much more interesting in the way things do appear clearer(and maybe it's me, but it seem to give the illusion of shallower DOF, since the circle of confusion changes).

I don't know how many days you plan to shoot but I cannot understand how an HD100 rental could go for much more than 100 bucks. I like the DVX for no budget projects, but I reccomend HD for every project that can pay this little extra cost.

For illustration's sake, I can give you the link to my Cinematography reel from 2006 (I shoot mostly docs theese days). See if you can find the HD-100 shots, and see if the clearer resolution has made for a better picture or not. Remember, it's all further downrezzed for internet streaming...

Cheers!

Júlio

http://www.stickypod.com/videos/data/524/Demo_Foto.mov
 
I think for women facing such a complex and trialling problem, the key would be to produce a pleasing and comforting image to the intended viewer. A harsh looking DV setup with peoples eyes being blacked out due to poor compression wont add good juju to the whole message. I'd go with something that will allow you to properly DP this thing for the reasons of the intended audience. in the end, it has to look comforting and authoratative. Sony's HDV cams are good for capturing the detail in faces in the audience.. (I guess Youd want to show that these women "arent alone" so audience shots would be important.. Oprah style) as Taubkin said, it would be clearer when downrezzed to SD.
 
For your budget and resources, probably the top things you can do are:

A- Shoot or get some other visuals to illustrate whatever the presenters are talking about. (Though for several hours of finished material, this could be harsh!; maybe grab stock photography off sxc.hu ) Because watching two people in a room is boring, and video is a very visual medium.
B- Get good audio. Wireless lav + boom mic. Could likely get away without needing a mixer.
C- Art direction, lighting.
D- Have some interesting broadcast design elements for titles and things like that. Or if they mention a particular book URL resource whatever, you would insert text there.

Shooting on a camera better than the DVX would rate very low. With the money you save, spend it on editing or art direction or lighting.
 
Glenn I did a documentary for them last year so I have a lot of footage to intercut with and I have plans to use animation in parts of the graphics to make things more interesting. I have to disagree with you though on not getting much of a benefit with hdv as the lighting set up will be simple and I feel the HDV will help keep the video looking more current for longer.
 
Shooting hdv won't really effect your budget much an will improve your product significantly.
Aloha
-A
 
planet e said:
for a studio shoot such as finner is describing, what can an XL H1 offer that an XH A1 cannot?

- interchangeable lens mount, don't need that unless you also plan to purchase the 6x wide angle lens for this shoot.

- HD-SDI uncompressed out, don't need that unless you plan to record tethered to a fully tricked out computer or Wafian unit

- shoulder mount capability, which is not great with the H1 anyway, and you will probably be tripod-mounted in the described set-up anyway.

if you rent these cams, there may not be much difference between the rental prices. but if you have it in your budget to buy, then you're talking about a $5-6K difference per camera.

even the HV20 can take a wireless mic set-up with a 1/8'' jack. you can use a shotgun or hypercardioid with a buttplug and get very professional sound, especially with stationary targets such as a talk show set-up.

looking like a pro can be expensive. shooting like one doesn't have to be. it really comes down to what feels good ergonomically, because almost all of these cameras, even the little HV20, can approximate the same image and sound quality.
Click to expand...

at last, an intelligent overview.. over other clever ones.. :)
 
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