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emraphoto

emraphoto

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well, i have been hearing the "learn to shoot video" mantra amongst the working blokes for some time now and had yet to come across the "hybrid" shooter. well yesterday was the day... a bit ominous to be truthful. i was covering a large labor rally and a familiar face from a daily shows up with the collection of 1d's about his neck and there it was. the hd video camcorder with external mic. what a balancing act! the bulk of the time he was on the camcorder and when cruising the local media sites today there i was, in the background of his video looking a tad shocked.

sooo... here i am. i adore the still image and remain committed to the craft. that being said i find myself learning final cut pro in my spare time. researching portable hd camcorders. downloading various audio programs. my reply has always been "no, sorry i don't do video" but i have an offer to shoot and edit a project that A/ will be very good for the pocket book and B/ at least 6 months of solid work!

i guess the decision is made in my mind. i know i need to do this to remain working... i guess it's just a tad scary.

i am now on the hunt. on the hunt for a great, compact hd camcorder with external audio and easy interface, easy on the ram video/audio and i am at ground 0! any of you folks moonlight in the "motion picture" world? any advice and input would be GREATLY appreciated!

cheers
 
emraphoto said:
well, i have been hearing the "learn to shoot video" mantra amongst the working blokes for some time now and had yet to come across the "hybrid" shooter. well yesterday was the day... a bit ominous to be truthful. i was covering a large labor rally and a familiar face from a daily shows up with the collection of 1d's about his neck and there it was. the hd video camcorder with external mic. what a balancing act! the bulk of the time he was on the camcorder and when cruising the local media sites today there i was, in the background of his video looking a tad shocked.

sooo... here i am. i adore the still image and remain committed to the craft. that being said i find myself learning final cut pro in my spare time. researching portable hd camcorders. downloading various audio programs. my reply has always been "no, sorry i don't do video" but i have an offer to shoot and edit a project that A/ will be very good for the pocket book and B/ at least 6 months of solid work!

i guess the decision is made in my mind. i know i need to do this to remain working... i guess it's just a tad scary.

i am now on the hunt. on the hunt for a great, compact hd camcorder with external audio and easy interface, easy on the ram video/audio and i am at ground 0! any of you folks moonlight in the "motion picture" world? any advice and input would be GREATLY appreciated!

cheers
Click to expand...

I'm not a working pro, but when I decided to buy a HD camcorder (under $1000CAD budget) I spoke to my friend who's a professional video producer for a major financial institution and he recommended the Canon HV20/30 camera. He mentioned that many film schools use this camera because of the versatility and HD image quality. You can buy external mics as well as DOF adapters that will allow you to use SLR lenses on the HV20/30. Another advantage from his perspective is that the camera still uses miniDV tapes, which are archival and limit data loss to a single tape rather than a 80GB HDD. I've been pleased with the HV20 which we got for around $600CAD but have only used it for family videos.

Good luck.
 
The poor schleps at the vancouver dailies have been doing this for a couple of years now!
Yes the Canon HV30 - soon to be HV40 - is a good way to go. Best IQ in the smallest package and easy to add accessories. Tape workflow is nice, because like film it's already archival, but the log and capture workflow is a PITA. Flash-based cameras are nicer from a workflow perspective but many of the smaller palmcorders lack features. Move up to something like the Panasonic HMC-150P (about $4,000) and you've got a relatively light weight, fully featured prosumer camera.
But wait - the Canon EOS 5D MKII offers HD video quality roughly equivalent to 75mm motion picture film. It has a mic jack and Beachtek is working on and XLR audio adapter. You can capture full res stills as you shoot video. One camera, one type of media.
 
well the 5d mkII would of course do the trick but i am heavily invested (and in love) with the d3 and d700.

i have almost narrowed it don to the sony hd hfs10? i think that's the model. allows for external mic and light. it's just such a steep learning curve that i am admittedly a wee bit nervous. thanx for the input folks!
 
without being fully versed in specs how does the panasonic compare to the sony (hfs 10) in video quality and is external mic possible? external light?
 
I'm not too sure, but it can have an external mic (it has a built in stereo mic).
pana_gh1_mic.jpg

As far as the quality the sensor is a slightly larger 4/3 sensor, so I imagine it being smaller than the Sony sensor. But none of the specs have been finalized for the sensor... I think. But the GH1 is nice because it has a swivel screen, dedicated video record button, and a kit lens that autofocuses video and supposedly has a silent autofocus. Also it has a nice compact body. But the pricing is what I'm holding out to hear. So who knows.?!
:confused:
 
hmmm, very interesting. i have about $1500 budget... hopefully that will cover it. now i need to figure out the techno mumbo jumbo and compare final image (video) quality.

any hints on what to look out for?
 
haha I had no idea we were comparing to a camcorder. I thought Sony has introduced some sort of video slr deal. Haha so what Dave said. :D
 
emraphoto said:
hmmm, very interesting. i have about $1500 budget... hopefully that will cover it. now i need to figure out the techno mumbo jumbo and compare final image (video) quality.

any hints on what to look out for?
Click to expand...
Make sure your computer system will actually read the codec of the camera you choose. As an example if you edit in Final Cut and you are shooting a camera that records in AVCHD, you need to transcode the footage to Quicktime so FC will read it. You need to have specific processor/graphics for the transcoding software to work.
If you go with any HDV tape-based camera like the Canons mentioned earlier, you won't have to worry about any of that crap.
 
hmmm good bit of info dave. i run a couple of modern mac's. 24" g5 imac running 10.5.5 and a macbook pro running the same (when away from home). the press game still is a "get it in as fast as possible" deal so i don't want to convert a load of video prior to the edit.
from camera to FTP as fast as possible is high on the list!
 
as well i don't want to add to my already overflowing stealth reporter. ie; if the camera would function like an external hd/device with a format that could be imported straight into fc i would be tickled pink! load fc on to laptop, put camera, spare battery and charger in bag and away i jet!

in an ideal world of course.
 
emraphoto said:
hmmm good bit of info dave. i run a couple of modern mac's. 24" g5 imac running 10.5.5 and a macbook pro running the same (when away from home). the press game still is a "get it in as fast as possible" deal so i don't want to convert a load of video prior to the edit.
from camera to FTP as fast as possible is high on the list!
Click to expand...
Your iMac won't be able to run anything from an AVCHD cam. You need Intel so you would have to transcode any footage on your macbookpro, then transfer it to your iMac.
One thing to consider, in the interest of slimming down the whole package, if your Nikon lenses are D type with the aperture ring and not G type, you can mount them to the 5D with an adapter and have stop-down metering capability. This is actually quite popular with 5D owners because the manual aperture ring gives you more exposure/depth of field control than Canon's own EF lenses.
Sell the D700 and get a 5D?
 
hmmm wow, sell the d700? now that would be a very tough thing to do. i am really very, very fond of the d700. certainly the d3 is a fine working camera but the d700 is just about the right size (well, i would like an om! sized affair but sadly the e420 is not quite up to par), i am quite comfortable with the user interface and it's performance is brilliant. i have shot regularly at iso 4000 and the files... well i am sure you have heard by now.
it is an idea i have hashed over but i think i am holding off on that one.

now forgive my lack of any real video knowledge but aren't there distinct limitations with a 5dmkII set up vs a camcorder? like focusing whilst shooting?

both my mac's have intel processors.
 
Not sure but maybe interesting for you: at 5D sottozero you c an see a short video made with the 5D MarkII. Unfortunately for you the site is only in italian, but the images are worthwhile to be seen (just my opinion).
robert
 
emraphoto said:
hmmm wow, sell the d700? now that would be a very tough thing to do. i am really very, very fond of the d700. certainly the d3 is a fine working camera but the d700 is just about the right size (well, i would like an om! sized affair but sadly the e420 is not quite up to par), i am quite comfortable with the user interface and it's performance is brilliant. i have shot regularly at iso 4000 and the files... well i am sure you have heard by now.
it is an idea i have hashed over but i think i am holding off on that one.

now forgive my lack of any real video knowledge but aren't there distinct limitations with a 5dmkII set up vs a camcorder? like focusing whilst shooting?

both my mac's have intel processors.
Click to expand...
Okay, you said your iMac is a G5 but I guess that's a typo.
The biggest disadvantages of the 5D as a video camera are:
Ergonomics: hard to hand-hold without shake due to its form factor
Exposure Control: you cannot change the shutter speed, frame rate or aperture - with EF lenses. With Nikon F mount (including Zeiss ZF!) or Leica R you have full aperture control. There is exposure compensation, which changes the ISO.
Manual focus only
Biggest advantages:
Largest sensor format for least amount of money = excellent depth of field control
Media is cheap and plentiful
Two cameras in one - near D700 image quality with twice the resolution for high res stills, bigger capture area than almost every video camera on the market
More lens options than any other platform - Canon EF, Nikon F, Zeiss ZF, Leica R, Contax/Y
Check out this site for more info on video capture with the 5D:
http://www.cinema5d.com/index.php
 
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