Starting with Videography

[LinzS]

Hi to all

Myself and myboyfriend are planning a trip that covers three continents over three years and are wanting to develop a documentary from it (we are both ichthyologists -thats the study of fisheries science and marine life-), while I am a stills underwater photographer I am a little in the dark on videography in terms of what kind of equipment is out that that can produce good quality films, or short documentaries. Does anyone have any advice on a good equipment setup and what kind of digital video cameras would be of use to us? (possibly something that will result in great images, but not involve dual bank loans for the rest of our lives!!)

Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

Linda
South Africa

 

[robint]

Hi to all

Myself and myboyfriend are planning a trip that covers three continents over three years and are wanting to develop a documentary from it (we are both ichthyologists -thats the study of fisheries science and marine life-), while I am a stills underwater photographer I am a little in the dark on videography in terms of what kind of equipment is out that that can produce good quality films, or short documentaries. Does anyone have any advice on a good equipment setup and what kind of digital video cameras would be of use to us? (possibly something that will result in great images, but not involve dual bank loans for the rest of our lives!!)

Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

Linda
South Africa

1. what's your price range?
2. do you need something compact for travel, or are you looking for a big professional setup with best quality? (camcorders aren't very heavy, but housings are and if you get lights, it is alot of gear to lug around.)
3. are you able to download footage daily or are you going to do tapes? (I'd really recommend tapes, stay away from mini-DVDs if you can)
4. regular video quality or do you want HD?

 

[LinzS]

Hi robint

1. our price range im not to sure about yet, we are prepared to extend it into the ten/twenty thousands (in rands) but is there a camera that can offer high quality , without the big budget, or without sacrificing too much in terms of what you can do with the camera (as I understand it some smaller and chaper models are able to produce very good quality images, or am I incorrect in assuming that?)
2.We are looking for something that encoumpasses a professional setup, as we already have compacts that we will use for more "travel shots". we dont mind the gear lugging, as we will be travelling by car, and plan to make most of our available space for the cameras.
3.If we used tapes, would there still be a way of using an editing rogramme on our laptops to at least take the footage and make it available for wiewing on our website, if so what programmes would you rreccomend, or does that depend on the camera type?
4.HD quality sounds like the better option

Thanks
Linda

 

[HiDefPics]

I use the Sony Z1U with a Gates housing. It is a higher end camera and makes great images, but it is a beast. The housing is nearly 40lbs out of the water. If you're really interested in winding up with a serious documentary, look at the Panasonic HVX200. It's a great camera.

For editing, I stick with Final Cut Pro. It is a professional app, but the basics are not difficult.

Good luck with your journey.

 

[diversteve]

Linda,

Given your budget ($1500-3000 U.S.), you really can't afford to look at a 3-chip HD camera like the Sony Z1U or newer Sony FX7/V1U. They start at about $3200 U.S. just for the camera. A housing for this type of camera typically runs in the $4000-$10,000US range and lights can be $2000-$5000 more.

The best quality footage you can get within your budget will be shot either using an older used 3CCD SD(Standard Definition) format camera/housing such as the Sony VX-2100 or PD-150/170 and similar or a new HDV single-chip CMOS system.

3CCD cameras are older technology but still being used by nature videographers for authoring DVD's and even broadcast. They sometimes show up in online auction sites such as eBay - however it may be difficult to even get this type of setup within your budget, even though they're a few years old, higher initial prices paid command a premium even in the used market. As an example, another poster here has a Sony VX-2100 - a 3chip, SD (not HD) camera - current used pricing on it is about $1800. A housing for it is about $1500 new and still available.

The other option is to buy a new HDV system. These systems use single-chip CMOS technology and are on the borderline of broadcast quality. They produce a 1080I signal which looks really good on an HDTV. Editing can be done on a fast laptop with a program like Final Cut Pro (Mac) or Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere Creative Studio for the PC - there's other s/w also, these are just a couple of affordable more professional options.

Understand that HDV is not true HD, for that you'd need to spend tens of thousands of dollars. But for website viewing and even self-produced limited run DVD's it's an affordable option. Newer computers now have HDV burners, either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD format (in this country we're still fighting over the standard) so it's possible to author high quality material for the consumer market affordably.

One other aspect to consider is that for anything but hobbyist use, unless the water conditions and lighting are just perfect, you'll need to consider a lighting system. Which is expensive, sometimes more than double the cost of the camera/housing combined.

Some affordable HDV options are in this thread I just posted. Although the selection criteria is different, the options are still relevant. Somehow all the links vanished from my post so the camcorder/housing combinations listed can be found on the B&H Photo/Video website here.

A couple of other options to consider at the higher end of your budget would be a Sony HC-series HDV camcorder in a Gates housing - their HC7 housing is bulletproof or one of the less expensive Poly housings manufactured by companies like Ocean Images or USVH. Also Inner Space Developments is a South African based housing manufacturer, I'm not sure of their current status as they've not updated their website in 3 years and don't show any HDV housings.

 

[HiDefPics]

sorry I missed the currency conversion ... I would agree you would be better off with a higher end 3 chip Standard Def camcorder than a low budget HD model. Again, good luck.

 

[PerroneFord]

Producing a quality documentary over 3 years with a US$1500-3000, setup is going to be some feat. Even looking conservatively at tape cost, if you shot 10 hours of film a month you'd have 120 tapes a year. You could be spending $800-$1000 in consumables alone.

Have you developed an outline for the documentary already? Do you know what you plan to shoot? A "script" if you will, or at least a basic shot list? That might allow you to pare down what you need.