Best Green Screen Camera for under $3k

[Chris Durham]

Frame rate shouldn’t have anything to do with the quality of the key. My listing that as a consideration was for 2 considerations: 1) Clients are likely to want keying for 24p, 30p, and 60i to match whatever format they’re using; and 2) 24 frames is 6 less per second to process – 20% faster

Of course you can handle either issue with more work, but versatility in the camera is king.

As far as codecs go I’d guess that HDV is better than either h.264 or MPEG4, but really we’re looking for the best worst case here, right? A sub-3k camera for keying is a matter of compromise to begin with. The 5dII isn’t ready for prime time in pro video, let alone VFX applications. I’d still consider it a value add on a still camera.

[Alan Lloyd]

No camera will do a good greenscreen job if the lighting is not good.

I’ve pulled good greenscreens with an XL-2 when the green is even and well-saturated, with minimal tweaking in post.

Record to hard drive using something like OnLocation, and use the scopes to verify the proper lighting for a good key.

Do they understand this? If not, help them.

[Mark Suszko]

Just my own opinion.

1. It’s not the camera, so much as the format you shoot and post in, that will influence the quality of the green screen.

2. A great camera will still not give great mattes if the screen isn’t properly LIT, and I feel this is more important than camera choice. Don’t be afraid to spend what you NEED to for good lighting. You get most of your money back at resale when you invest in pro lighting gear.

3. You can purchase after-market warranties on used gear. B&H offers some, for example.

4. You can generally rent a much better camera than you can afford to BUY, dollar-for-dollar. Depending how many times a week you need it, how fast you need it, and for how long you shoot, it may well make better financial sense to just rent or lease a better camera. Why not make each green screen job PAY for the specific rental as you need it, and stop worrying? Few Hollywood DP’s own all their cameras, I’m told. They don’t because that’s not good business.

[Richard Herd]

[Chris Durham] “I hardly call it a decent camera – it’s over-rated and over-priced)”

I disagree completely. It far exceeds being merely a decent camera, but I’m not here to market and advertise for Panasonic. Just that there are varied opinions on the cow.

[Terry Stone]

I appreciate everyone’s help very much

Unfortunately I am still a bit lost

will just about any camera, even a prosumer one be able to record uncompressed footage to an intensity pro card?

[Niels Leslie pringle]

I’m thinking of buying teh Mark II 5D for just that reason. I’ve seen great results with greenscreen test on the Mark II. Just make sure you light it correctly.

[Martyn Lenthall]

I kid you not – I have just spent about 10 hours trying to find a ‘budget’ camcorder that only needs 2 features.
1. HD recording
2. Mic input

There are lots on the market for £350 ($500) but I didn’t want to spend that kind of money.

CAMCORDER MANUFACTURERS – look at the number of people searching Google for a budget camcorder with a mic in !!

This is the path I have taken – I have read about 100 camera reviews, checked and double checked the manufacturers specs (a lot of websites say mic input when they do not have one) for all 100 cameras, then looked for a youtube video that showed the mic input an then finally tried to find one that (a) didn’t need to be imported from the US and get charges £100 customs duty (b) was available.

I hope that my hard (and stressful) work can be of some use to you – here is the model I have bought (and yes it DEFINITELY HD and has an input for the mic) and I paid just £110 ($170) for it:
Toshiba Camileo X400

[Rick Wise]

Interesting information, amazing price. However, on the US Amazon site, a significant number of people complained that auto focus hunts for focus throughout the shot and there’s supposedly no way to turn it off and go manual. How is the camera working for you?

Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com

[Martyn Lenthall]

The autofocus is fine – no problems at all.

The only downfall with the camera is the internal mic – but as I bought it specifically to use an external mic, this isn’t an issue for me.