Camcorders. Any experience?

[fracster]

Hi all, need some help.

I have a photographic job at the end of November that includes a lightshow,fireworks,banquet in a castle,dance etc,etc.

The lady who organised this and who booked me to do the photography has decided that she would like a short video of the event doing.It does not need to be "BBC Wild" standard.........

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent camcorder? I would like it to be able to write to its own hard drive and be easily transferable to a DVD,I am doing my own research, but would like some input from anyone with experience of these things,

Thanks.

 

[Flash In The Pan]

Sounds like an excuse to upgrade to a D300s

 

[CSB]

What is your budget? Do you have any video editing software already? What kind of quality is she expecting? If this is a one off I would suggest hiring a video camera for the event as it will be cheaper and you will get to use a higher quality camera.

Are you going to be taking pictures and recording as well? I think you will find it very hard to do both at the same time unless you set up the video camera on a decent tripod and leave it recording while you take pictures, which isn't ideal IMO.

If you can give some more information I'll try to help you out more.

 

[fracster]

Sounds like an excuse to upgrade to a D300s

I have seriously thought about that Graham,still am. Just not sure if the new feature is up to it,i`m off down to Calumet this week to give it the once over.

What is your budget? Do you have any video editing software already? What kind of quality is she expecting? If this is a one off I would suggest hiring a video camera for the event as it will be cheaper and you will get to use a higher quality camera.

Are you going to be taking pictures and recording as well? I think you will find it very hard to do both at the same time unless you set up the video camera on a decent tripod and leave it recording while you take pictures, which isn't ideal IMO.

If you can give some more information I'll try to help you out more.

Budget? Not sure, I need to learn quick on camcorders as I have no knowledge of them.I may end up farming the work out,though I prefer not to.As stated above, I am going to Calumet this week so will see what they can offer for hire purposes. We do weddings as a team,so I would look to get further use if I bought one. No I would not be doing both on my own nor do I have any video editing software, any that you would recommend?

I guess i`m kind of jumping in at the deep end here with video, but sometimes that is how it has to be.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[simoscribbler]

I'm a stills snapper turned film-maker, and the learning curve is fairly steep, especially if you're going to edit yourself, although it depends on the standard expected.

But, to answer your original Q, assuming audio isn't vital shooting on a suitable DSLR is a good plan, because you know how the kit works.

If not I wouldn't hire a semi-pro HDV cam (like a Sony Z1/Canon A1), because they do take a bit of getting used to. You'll need mics and a tripod with pan/tilt head and/or a steadycam if you go that route - don't try to do i/vs with the built in mics if there's any noise around. But decent amateur video cams only cost £3/400 now and they might do the job for you - not sure if you can hire though, and no idea which is best.

And in terms of editing, if you use Mac I suggest Final Cut (the lite edition) or something like Premiere on PC. (I think you can get a month's free trial on some programmes and download over the web, including Sony Vegas, and they all do much the same thing.)

Good luck with it

Best

Richard

 

[lawrenceots]

I've seen samples of the D300S video and it looks (and sounds) extremely good - also it is the 'cheapest' DSLR to have the ability to add the external Mic. There's nothing worse than my friends grandads D90, grt quality video but trashy mono sound.