• Canon Cameras

  Documentary advice for Lenses?

  Posted by Nathan Rekoba on December 9, 2010 at 9:27 am

  Hi, I am interested in getting advice on sound/video/lighting to be able to produce a high quality documentary with video to be shot in both externally and internally.

  I have the following equipment already and thus would not want to upgrade that at the moment due to costs for upgrading of these items:

  Cameras:
  Canon HV30 with shotgun canon hotshoe mic
  Canon HV40
  Merlin Steadicam
  Velbon D600 Tripod (only have 1) which other should I purchase?

  Lighting:
  Sachtler Reporter 300H

  Questions which arise are:

  1. Do I need filters or extra lenses for the cameras for internal and external work?
  2. Mics for external and internal usage?
  3. Should I be recording in HDV widescreen or DV widescreen to get best resolution?

  Any advice would be most helpful.

  Thanks

  N. Rekoba

  Trevor Ward replied 15 years, 5 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
• 1 Reply

• 

  Trevor Ward

  December 15, 2010 at 9:40 pm

  I’ve shot several documentaries and small budget and call sympathize with your limited budget. I will tell you from experience that the most important piece of equipment is what you use to capture sound. The 2nd most important thing is how you use light.

  You don’t mention if this is walking and talking, cinema verite style shooting, or if it’s shooting interviews. With interviews, you can control light and sound much better.

  1. Buy yourself a good shotgun mic and make sure it’s as close to the sound source as possible. If you afford the Sennheiser K6 shotgun with a windscreen (for windy conditions) then you’re off to a great start.
  2. You don’t need extra filters or lenses. I’m not familiar with those cameras, but they don’t have interchangeable lenses, right?
  3. Record in HDV.

  -trevor ward
  Red Eye Film Co.
  http://www.redeyefilmco.com
  orlando, fl

Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up