I have some ideas about documentaries I want to shoot, but have zero experience shooting or editing them.
I’ve been researching video cameras, but to be honest I’m not sure what a layman like myself needs.
I was thinking one of the newer Handycams would do the job.
Since this would be a hobby initially I don’t want to overspend on the first camera.
Suggestions please on a cam. Budget: NT$25000.
Ta!
Look, we know you’ve got a new girlfriend.
Let’s just drop the pretense of shooting a “documentary”, OK? :no-no:
[quote=“zender”]Look, we know you’ve got a new girlfriend.
Let’s just drop the pretense of shooting a “documentary”, OK? :no-no:[/quote]
Seriously.
[quote=“Baas Babelaas”]I have some ideas about documentaries I want to shoot, but have zero experience shooting or editing them.
I’ve been researching video cameras, but to be honest I’m not sure what a layman like myself needs.
I was thinking one of the newer Handycams would do the job.
Since this would be a hobby initially I don’t want to overspend on the first camera.
Suggestions please on a cam. Budget: NT$25000.
Ta!
[/quote]
how guerrilla do you want to go?
I want to shoot some gritty stuff. Plenty of stories that need to be told here in China.
But something that can do interviews, but also tough enough for some outdoor shooting - beach, up in the mountains etc.
Look up for a digital camera able to shoot in full HD and with good light sensitivity, then look for a good computer editing program (Avid is great, but you can try some open-source alternatives for free that work well). By using open-source programs to edit the video, the money than you save for the software can be used to get you a better camera.
If you wanna go simple, being able to mount it on head, hand, car, etc. and just generally go wild even outdoor then try the GoPro 2, just google it and you will find loads of stuff… Interviews might be harder as it just has build in mic but other than that it’s fun to play around with it…
Don’t do that! Digital cams take great still, but weak videos. Even though all the new digital cams shoot in HD, you’ll have shaking issues and more importantly, you’ll have focus issues. Now unless both the subject and camera are going to be stationary, go with a real video camera.
I disagree. digital film is the future for indie motion picture (actually it kinda already is). if you’re going to do this professionally, the budget camera for indie films is the red scarlet:
(body)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RED_Scarlet
and then all you have to do is add a zoom lens, a mount and a shotgun mike— and voila— a pro-grade visual experience.
if this is just a hobby and you dont have much cash to burn, then I suggest you RENT the equipment (thats what most people do).
if you reaaally want to BUY a camera at this stage, then yeah a camcorder from the sony full hd handycam or canon vixia hf lines would be your best bet. though with the camcorders, you’ll also need to buy a microphone. the built-in ones really just don’t work.
Many pros are using the RED cameras to film their movies, actually. Peter Jackson is using them to film “The Hobbit”.
Anyways, filming in digital allows you to save in conversion equipment and the editing software (if you use open-source alternatives as I told you before).
before anyone jump to conclusions, let me clarify that peter jackson is NOT using the red scarlet. the company has other models under it’s red brand, including the mx and the epic. the epic, red’s flagship camera, is the one that mr. jackson is filming the hobbit with. with the epic, the camera body alone costs up to $40,000 retail.
if you have the cash, I’d definitely recommend the red epic as the top tier product, tying only with the arri alexa* as the best digital cameras in the business**. there’s just no other digital gear that can beat the reigning two right now. believe me I know.
*last time I checked the alexa’s retail price was $60,000.
**off the top of my head the most recent film I can think of filmed with the alexa is martin scorsese’s hugo (2011)
p.s. sorry kaikai34, hate to burst your bubble, but give digital a chance! go ahead and rent the hugo blu-ray and you’ll know what I mean when I say digital can look absolutely gorgeous 
.
Wow, RED and the rest of pro movie $$$ equipment…
I somehow imagined OP being happy with TV quality (Full HD) documentaries shot with low end, compact pro camcorder:
bhphotovideo.com/c/product/7 … t_Pro.html
[quote=“Rockefeller”]
p.s. sorry kaikai34, hate to burst your bubble, but give digital a chance! go ahead and rent the hugo blu-ray and you’ll know what I mean when I say digital can look absolutely gorgeous .[/quote]
Sorry, I wasn’t clear in my post. What I meant was that digital cameras (point and shoot at the low end kind of guys) don’t take very good videos and that if the OP is going to make a documentary, he should get a camcorder. I agree, digital looks fantastic! I’ve got a Sony XR500 that I bought a few years ago. I was thinking about selling, since I just bought a Lumix GF5 that also takes HD vids, but in the end I decided against. The camera cannot come close to the video capabilities of the camcorder just like my camcorder can’t take stills anywhere close to the little micro 4/3.
[quote]I somehow imagined OP being happy with TV quality (Full HD) documentaries shot with low end, compact pro camcorder:
bhphotovideo.com/c/product/7 … t_Pro.html[/quote]
The price I’m seeing for that camera is NT$50,000.
Looks nice, but perhaps I should start simpler.
For lower price you could downgrade to consumer level camcorder e.g. HDR-CX590
tw.page.bid.yahoo.com/tw/auction … tsrch=srp3
You pay the price in image quality: cheaper optics, more low light noise (smaller sensor sensor size) and low end built in microphone (might be a problem for interviews in noisy environments)
Video camera not for shooting documentaries. Video camera for shooting pornography.
DSLR and a macbook pro and we call it a dayz