What Video Cam should we consider?

Cinematography

What Video Cam should we consider?

Posted by Leonard Hurlocker on April 19, 2011 at 5:36 pm

Hello Forum,

I hope i have posted to the correct board, this is my first time posting on this site.

I work for a small production company that use to hire someone to do all of our video shoots but we have determined that it will be a lot cheaper over the long haul to just buy our own video camera.

I’m a project manager and know very very little about this industry , we make training videos and documentaries and our video is frequently used to make talking head footage and sometimes green screen. We usually request 720p HD/Wide screen format for all of our footage. If someone could point me to some information or recommend a good video cam for us, I would really be grateful.

We want a camera that will capture on Flash or SD media and will play nice with Final cut, and likely the team will want to be able to capture/record up to 1080p format.

Thanks in advance.

Rick Wise replied 15 years, 3 months ago 5 Members · 9 Replies
9 Replies

Rick Wise
April 19, 2011 at 5:50 pm

First, what is your budget for this camera?

Second, have you spoken to any of the people you have been hiring to shoot these videos? Or do you plan to cut them out of future shoots and do it all in-house? If you will continue to hire them, they can advise you about the camera of choice. Heck, they might even sell you one of their own for a good price.

Third, SD is a poor format for green screen, and very out of date.

Fourth, do you have the latest Final Cut Pro? A powerful and very late-model Mac?

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
Richard Herd
April 19, 2011 at 6:26 pm

[Rick Wise] “SD is a poor format for green screen, and very out of date” I assumed SD meant the storage cards, not standard definition.

Finding myself in a similar situation actually for a documentary project, I am leaning toward the Canon XA10, along with a nice mic and an ARRI kit. But I am not buying any equipment until Final Cut Pro X actually hits the market.

The three things I was looking for were:
1. A very small footprint
2. XLR mic inputs
3. Manual exposure control
Leonard Hurlocker
April 20, 2011 at 4:07 pm

Hello Rick,

Thank you for the follow up questions, I think they will be helpful in determining what camera we get.

First, what is your budget for this camera?

We would like to keep the cost at 5000 or less, I was wondering about they Sony cam that cost 2000

Here’s the link:

https://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666239819

Second, have you spoken to any of the people you have been hiring to shoot these videos? Or do you plan to cut them out of future shoots and do it all in-house?

We are on good terms with the person that does our shoots but we have not reached out to him yet, I’m trying to get some information together to present it to the owner so – I’ll reach out to him later this week. We want to do it all in house at some point

If you will continue to hire them, they can advise you about the camera of choice. Heck, they might even sell you one of their own for a good price.

Third, SD is a poor format for green screen, and very out of date.
Thanks for the info on this, I didn’t know that , Do you have a link or info on what is good types of media to capture video on – like the differnt types of storage cards, hard drive etc.

Fourth, do you have the latest Final Cut Pro? A powerful and very late-model Mac?

Yes, we have Final Cut server, an 8 core Mac server, 4 iMacs and some Mac books and ipads. Basically prior to now were made training videos and documentations for the Department of Defense on PTSD and Traumatic Brain injury, these were courses Service Members took to learn how to treat wounded soldiers. The government pays good and because of this we hooked up our production suite.

Thank you for the input!

Mike
Jason Jenkins
April 20, 2011 at 5:59 pm

[Leonard Hurlocker] “Third, SD is a poor format for green screen, and very out of date.
Thanks for the info on this, I didn’t know that , Do you have a link or info on what is good types of media to capture video on – like the differnt types of storage cards, hard drive etc.”

Rick was referring to a video format, not a storage medium ––Standard Definition (SD) video as opposed to High Definition (HD) video. Secure Digital (SD) cards are fine for capturing video as long as you use a reliable brand with the recommended speed rating. I use Sandisk class 10 Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) cards in my camera.

Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!
Leonard Hurlocker
April 20, 2011 at 6:07 pm

Man, guess you can see how little I know, but that makes more sense to me now. I was kinda wondering what was different with the video from a green screen that made SD cards not a good choice to capture it on,lol. Thanks for the clarification.
Rick Wise
April 20, 2011 at 11:57 pm

I suggest you look at the user reviews on the B&H site: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/717535-REG/Sony_NEX_VG10_NEX_VG10_Interchangeable_Lens_Handycam.html

Note that this camera’s price is for the body only. You need to add lenses.

If you can boost your budget a bit, you might consider the Sony PMS EX1r: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/758895-REG/Sony_PMW_EX1R_2_PMW_EX1R_XDCAM_EX_Full.html

Or better yet (and more expensive) the Canon XF 305, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/684198-REG/Canon_4454B001

As for SD, I did think you were talking about standard def.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
Richard Herd
April 21, 2011 at 4:29 pm

XLR mic inputs cannot be overstated, with regard to talking heads. Of course you can always buy XLR adapters, but that needs to be included in the budget. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Camcorder-XLR-Adapters/ci/8673/N/4291085906 More gadgets in the signal flow means more places where things can go wrong.
Martin Curtis
April 22, 2011 at 10:00 am

I make corporate videos with limited distribution. My work is point, shoot, edit, distribute. No re-takes.

I started with a Sony PD150, now use a Sony HVR-V1 (tape-based HDV camcorder, and I’ll be glad to see the back of tapes) and would love to get a Sony HXRNX5U. I already have two Sony wireless mics but would consider some wired mics if I was doing more studio (how I refer to my batcave) interviews.

I’d try and get the Sony flash drive unit for the camera too.
Rick Wise
April 22, 2011 at 5:08 pm

That Sony Sony HXRNX5U is listed as nearly $5,000 but goes for $4,000 at B&H and probably elsewhere. I missed that one. A definite candidate and in the price range of the original poster. Note it uses AVCHD (as do many camcorders.)

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up

Creative Communities of the World Forums