Best, Cheapest HD Video Camera

Question

I'm making a movie. I'd like HD. Since its a scary movie with nighttime sequences, I need a light on it. Another question, do the lights provide enough light to see but not too much to make it still seem like nighttime?

Answer 1

It all depends on what you are trying to film and how you want it to look or feel.

Most Camcorders are not specifically designed to operate in low-light - especially the cheap ones.  If you need a cheap hand-held look and feel for that particular shot, it might still work for you.  You will need to do some testing or re-writing.  Chances are that a more expensive professional camcorder will do the job better than a cheaper one.

If you are using ambient light (existing natural light), you will probably need a CCD camcorder versus a CMOS one.  This all depends on how much light is available versus what the minimal light the camcorder can work with, so testing will be mandatory.  Many of the CCD models have Nightshot or infrared capabilities to see in complete darkness, and some of Sony's CMOS cameras also have IR (infrared capability) like their CCD models.  This might help you with the look and feel you want, and it might not.

You may need to make manual adjustments to the camera by opening the exposure (higher numbers) and lowering the frame rate (lower numbers).  You will also need to use no zoom at all and move the camcorder in as close as possible to the subject to get the most amount of light without ruining your scene.

The onboard light on small cheap camcorders will provide minimal light.  In many cases, this light will look like a small flashlight.  You can also purchase cheap external lights for a much more affordable price than a cheap camera.  You may also use household lamps that you already own.

Depending on how you want to do this, You may have some serious issues to cover.   The important thing here is to consider the audience.  You obviously want them to know this is something that is happening or happened in the dark.  Can you film the situation under a lit awning or a street light (in 1/3rd of the frame) with the darkness in the background or foreground (in the other 2/3rds of the frame) - such as an urban street scene?  If you can only get some of your nighttime scenes to work with your camcorder, perhaps you can re-write the situation to film actors talking in full daylight or sunrise/sunset talking about what happened with flashbacks to the nighttime shots that worked.