Guy Mcloughlin
Forum Replies Created
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All video compression is “temporal” (time based) compression, so the quality of the final image will depend on how much visual information is changing during the length of your video recording.
Most of the time 60/50 fps frame rates do not need as much room to store the visual information because subjects we are filming do not move very much over the span of 1/60th or 1/50th of a second, so less data is required to store the information.
If you are filming very high speed events, then you would see a quality difference between the 60/50 fps video and the 24/25 fps video.
Bottom Line: for most normal speed video subjects the lower data-rate is fine for 50/60 fps recording.
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[Omar Magdi] “Has anybody ever wondered why not one field recorder has 4K and Raw abilities”
Actually, I can think of two recorders that can do this, but you have to be prepared to pay $4,000+ for these recorders. Price should not be a big deal, as professional 4K cameras also cost quite a bit. ( The Sony FS700 with the 4K upgrade is one of the cheaper cameras )
Convergent Design Odyssey7Q RAW Monitor & Recorder
Which requires Convergent Design certified SSD drives and some CODEC upgrades to record both RAW and compressed 4K video.
This requires a Sony 4K camera, like the FS-700 camera with the 4K upgrade, or the Sony F5 camera, or the Sony F55 camera.
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Rule #1 – Don’t buy junk.
It’s better to have fewer pieces of good equipment than lots of poor quality stuff.
Given your gear list, here are two items I would invest in…
Sennheiser MKE600 shotgun mic, which costs about $330, has very good sound, and can be used both indoors and outdoors.
Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 zoom lens, which can be bought new or used in the $350-500 range. This lens is sharp, constant aperture, and is fast for a zoom lens.
A field monitor, to get a better idea of what you are shooting…
Marshall M-CT7 7″ Monitor with Canon LP-E6 Plate : $260
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First thing I would do is locate a good CCD video camera, so that rolling-shutter distortion doesn’t end up destroying your shots. ( I own a Panasonic HMC-150 which uses a CCD with global shutter. The Panasonic HPX-170 and HVX-200A cameras also use CCD sensors, so no rolling-shutter issues with these cameras.
Second thing I would do is look at adapting a good cine car-mount to use it to mount your cameras.
Sounds like a fun project.
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There are two routes you could take…
1- An ENG style camera with built-in zoom lens and XLR audio inputs.
Given your budget I would look at something like this:
Canon XA20 Professional HD Camcorder : $2,200
Or a Panasonic HMC-150 camera, which can be bought used for about $1,800 or new for about $2,650.
2- A DSLR camera which will have interchangeable lenses, shallow Depth of Field ( your subject is in focus but the background is blurred ), and generally produces an video image that looks a lot like a motion-picture film camera.
Given your budget, the best DSLR camera for video is the Panasonic GH3 camera, which records full 1080 24p/30p/60p video at bit-rates up to 71 Mbps. The GH3 can also shoot with almost any 35mm camera lens made, including lenses made back in the 60’s and 70’s which are dirt cheap on eBay. ( you will need the appropriate lens adapter, which are fairly easy to find )
The GH3 also has the lowest rolling-shutter timing of any DSLR, so that fast pans won’t look as warped as they do with other DSLRs.
The GH3 also has unlimited recording time, provided your batteries last and memory cards can hold the data. It’s possible to shoot one 12 hour take with a GH3 using a large SDXC memory card and an external power supply. Most of the other DSLRs can only record 30 minutes or less for a single take.
If photography is more important to you than video, then you might look at the Nikon D7100 which records very good video and is an excellent still photo camera. ( the GH3 takes very good still photos, but it really excels at shooting video )
So which camera to buy?
A lot depends on your shooting style and what you like to shoot. For live event work an ENG camera is usually the way to go, but for documentary and film-like footage a DSLR will produce the highest quality image.
I shoot with both, but most of the time I shoot with a Panasonic GH3 camera. ( I use an ENG camera for live events )
Good luck!
– Guy
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[John Doggett-Williams] “have you used the Zoom H4n recorder directly into the GH2?
I haven’t had great results with the Zoom H4n compared to using an actual pre-amp. The JuicedLink Riggy pre-amp is one of the least expensive ways of obtaining high quality audio for your DSLR camera.
[John Doggett-Williams] I have done so and find the hiss (on the camera recording) annoying.
You must set your camera’s audio level as low as possible and then feed your camera a strong signal to achieve “noise free” audio.
[John Doggett-Williams] Also, when using the GH2/3’s do you ever zoom? I’m not great with manual zooming.”
I don’t own any parfocal zoom lenses, so my focus goes out every time I zoom. Very few DSLR lenses are parfocal, so unless I want to rent a real PL mount Cine zoom there’s no point.
I might buy the new Panasonic 14-140mm zoom just because it’s one of the few parfocal lenses in the Panasonic lens line-up.
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From what you describe, setting your camera to 4400K should produce fine results.
Most of the time you will be setting the final color mix in post when you are editing, so as long as you are relatively close to the true color-balance of your source lighting you should be fine.
With the less expensive video cameras that record video in 8-bit color ( which is pretty much all video cameras under $5K, with the exception of the Blackmagic cameras) it’s important to set an accurate color balance when you are shooting as the color balance in your recorded video can’t be manipulated very much when editing.
More expensive cameras ( and the Blackmagic cameras ) that allow you to record video in 10-bit or RAW color formats, will produce video where the color balance can be shifted all over the place with little or no degradation of your final image.
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Stay away from Manfrotto, they are generally terrible when it comes to properly counter-balancing a camera rig.
With a properly balanced video head you can swing your camera in any direction then let go and the camera will stay exactly where you let it go without having to lock anything.
Over the past 10 years I’ve owned 5 different Manfrotto heads and all of them had the same poor counter-balancing problem.
Here’s my list starting from the cheapest video tripod that can properly balance a camera rig…
Benro A2573FS6 Tripod with S6 Head : $300
Sachtler Ace M Tripod and Head : $560
Libec RS-250RM Tripod and Head : $772
Libec RS-350RM Tripod and Head : $1,100
Libec RS-450RM Tripod and Head : $1,250
Vinten VB-AP2M Vision Blue Tripod and Head : $1,210
Vinten VB3-AP2M Vision Blue 3 Tripod and Head : $1,830
Sachtler 0475 FSB-6 Carbon-Fiber Tripod System : $1,804
Sachtler 0772 FSB-8 Tripod System : $1,935
All of these are excellent choices with great video heads, just pick one that can handle the weight range of your camera rig and that fits your budget.
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I shoot presentation and training videos, and I’ve been using XLR audio adapters ( BeachTek and JuicedLink ) to feed audio to my DSLR cameras for several years now. The audio quality is very good, especially with my Panasonic GH2/GH3 cameras.
I used to shoot with a Canon 60D, but switched to Panasonic GHx cameras a couple of years ago because they produce a higher quality video and audio recording. The GH3 has a noise-floor equivalent to a Zoom H4n recorder, which is about -63 dB.
The key to obtaining high quality DSLR audio is to feed your camera a strong audio signal ( -30 dB to -20 dB ) and set your camera’s audio level as low as possible. This means you need to use a good external mic pre-amp like a JuicedLink Riggy unit or a professional mixer like the Sound Devices MixPre-D.
You can also use Sennheiser G3 UHF wireless systems, and feed the receiver output directly into your camera. The receiver output is adjustable over a wide dB range, so you may have to do some tests to determine the best settings for your camera. With my GH3 I use -18 dB on the transmitter and -6 dB on the receiver with the GH3 audio level set to 1.
For narrative film-making I use a dual system with a Sound Devices MixPre-D that is then fed to a Sony PCM-M10 recorder that is tucked into the front of the audio bag. Everything is slated, which makes it very easy to sync the audio tracks with the camera video.
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I just checked the DELL Computer website and they currently sell a desktop i7 computer starting at $830, and this is NOT on sale. If you look for sales you should be able to find an i7 computer in the $600 – $700 range.
It’s crazy to expect an under-powered computer to perform properly, so you either live with the performance, or buy the right tool for the job.
Yes, transcoding to lower compression CODECs like Cineform or AVID DNxHD will definitely help, but then you have to go through the whole transcoding process which takes time and be able to store the much larger lower compressed files.
If people are shooting video for fun, then maybe using a lower compression CODEC is the way to go. But if you’re shooting video for income ( part-time or full time ), then you should try and use the right tools in the first place.
I often see new videographers who are willing to spend $4K+ on a camera, but won’t spend $500+ on audio gear to record good sound, and their work suffers because of this. The same principle applies with other essential video production gear like your main editing computer.