Al Bergstein
Forum Replies Created
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Jim, welcome and you are doing the right thing in detailing out your needs. I hadn’t seen the Wolfcrow series mentioned above, but it is an excellent thing to read, and it would have saved me hours of searching on the web when I returned to pro video after a few decades of absence. However, there’s a lot of good stuff to know there, but to be clear, it’s coming from a pro high end POV. That’s good to know how the pros do it, but sometimes, we just can’t afford that stuff.
For your price, given what I know today, and as someone who started with the T2i and have stuck with Canon products, if I had to start again, I would be considering the GH2 or 3 for the price. A friend that has worked with me has one, and it is superb. Spending a bit more on the GH3 would give you a cutting edge product that should last for a long time.
The AVCHD footage is spectacular, much better than the price suggests. There are some superb 3rd party lenses for it, including some european models that can get you down to the under F2 stop range. They are mentioned in the WolfCrow article.
Audio can be fed right into it, if you don’t have an external recorder (which sometimes you might find you don’t), and I believe you can plug headphones into the GH3 and monitor in in camera, something the T3i etc. don’t have. In camera audio isn’t usually recommended, but can be done, I’ve done it on my 5D Mkiii. My recommendations is to buy the PMD661 if you can afford it. I am not a fan of Zoom, having owned one. The PMD is a rugged piece of pro gear that radio people use all over the world. It has all the pro features you will ever need, and you likely won’t outgrow it anytime soon.
Another option, though better in some ways and not in others, is getting the Panasonic TM900 camcorder. It also has a external mic adapter, headphone jack, etc. Not as nice of DOF as it’s not a DLSR, but I have one and have used it to do interviews at times, works great, very small. battery life is much longer than the DSLRs. Needs a bit more light than a DSLR. I have run a wired Sennheiser lav mic to both my dslrs and my Panny and got excellent sound without buying a wireless (though I now have wireless as well). But to be clear, if I was building a first kit, the GH2/3 would be the starting point. The TM900 buys you
Good luck!
Al
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While I think the ergonomics seem fabulous, I’m waiting to see more comparisons with other AVCHD camearas at lower price points. First impressions seem to be superb, but the money is in the image. I mean, I can buy a GH3 if I want AVCHD for $1200 and get what appears to be superb quality (my buddy has been shooting with a Gh2, and I have to say, it’s great images). Currently, my 5dMkiii is giving me superb video and the sound input/monitoring is excellent. So I’m really curious if the AVCHD on this is actually better than others.
(I also have a xf105 and 305, so I’m not a Canon basher!). I love the xf305, for a lot of things. But not DOF.It’s image quality often seems better than my 5D.
Al
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I own both an xf105 and 305. Picture quality on 305 is better. Match is close in color balance. Both are very good cameras for theater. Your quality should improve dramatically on standard dvd.
Al
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Sorry. Meant to say the feed of off the sound board to the Zoom. I always try and get XLR line out from the boards. The new Zoom software upgrades have the pure line in capability. I don’t think you should have to pad the incoming signal.
Al
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Are you shooting the actual show or a rehersal? If the show, i would go to a rehersal, and make sure it all works as you think, especially the zoom feed. I usually arrive two hours in advance and validate all cards are formatted, and all is set. I have found that i prefer shooting at 29 rather than 24, due to movement.
Al
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I agree with Harry. The xf300 is not the only choice. But that list is a good starting place to compare true run and gun cameras in your price range. I use to shoot Panny, and love them. They are a shooters camera. The Canons are great, but their ergonomics are not as good as Panny. But their image and useability are.I would not trade my xf305 for any current Panny model, I love what I can do with it, though I am not comparing the AF100 in that list.
Al
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Well, if your choices are to go from a 5D to a C300 in price, then I’d wait for and seriously look at the C100. I use a 5D M3 and can setup and shoot in 15 seconds if need be, depending on the action. And the lens will determine your auto focus ability.
But for run and gun, I usually use a Canon xf300/305. It has a great zoom lens (a big shortcoming for DSLR’s), and the picture often is better than my 5D, unless you look at DOF on interviews (that’s when I will reach for the 5D).
The Sony might do the job. However, if you have an investment in Canon glass, the C100 might be the better choice. It should be shipping this week or next.
You didn’t mention what kind of run and gun you are looking at..the use of the camera and final target market will very much determine which way to go. Private client (i.e. sports, weddings, corporate), web only, broadcast…they all can drive a different set of choices.
Al
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I would start by upgrading both your memory (to the maximum amount it can hold or at least 16 GBs) and upgrade your hard drive to at least 1 TB. And if you value your footage, get a RAID 1. I buy mine from OWC they are a good company and have very reasonably priced RAID configurations. You can buy a HD or RAID from them that has both eSata, FW and USB 3.0 or TB now. I would at least buy one with a USB 3.0. The prices for TB are really way too expensive and the new Macs now support USB 3.0 (one positive step since Jobs died).
You should be able to handle the footage. Just be patient. I have a few drives still on my machine with 800 FW, works fine, a bit slow. Esata is better, much better. Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 is also great. I think that OWC can actually install an esata port for you if you want, as I don’t believe you have the expansion option on that.
Al
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Just for reference, I’ve found (in the past), that freeze ups on these kind of build it yourself computers (I’ve built dozens over the years), usually end up being a motherboard, memory, bios upgrade, or some other kind of hardware/ OS software related issue, not a ‘bottleneck’ problem and rarely related to a package such as Adobe.. As a starting place, make sure your bios has been upgraded if it can be, as the manufacturer finds problems after shipping, they’ll update. I’ve finally given up on building them myself…not worth my time troubleshooting the issues. As to speed, Tero has a good starting question. Good luck…
Al
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Thanks Eric. It sounded pretty good to me. Glad to have someone with a longer history of professional recording validate it. I think Canon really has improved the preamps on this. I’ve read reviews that they hadn’t, but after this piece of work, I’d like to have those reviewers help me technically understand why they said that.
Again, this was fed with a wired 3.5″ lav (Sennheiser). I think it cost me somewhere around $140 (I’m not going to take the time to look it up and there is no model number on the lav). It might have been the ME-2.
Al