Looking for handycam or camcorder to make a movie?

Question

i'm looking for a good handycam or camcorder to shoot movies or short films

are there any things i should specificly be looking for? like how wide the lens is or how good the camera does under bad conditions, such as low light, or strong wind etc.

or are there maybe other older cameras to shoot films with..and i'm talking about FILMS and not a clip with the family or something..you know like the old cameras the famous directors used to have when they were young

i really need some help on this!

Answer 1

Things to look for in a digital camcorder:

1) The media stores the digital information with the least amount of compression. Video compression = lost data = reduced video quality.

2) Mic-in jack, unless you are planning to capture your audio separately using a field recorder like those from M-Audio, Marantz, Fostex... among others.

3) I would not suggest film - it can be done, but the processing and digitizing is very expensive.

Keep in mind that someone with skill and experience will get awesome footage with the cheapest camera. Someone with NO skill or experience will get garbage footage with the best, most expensive camera.

You did not tell us your budget...

Low:

Canon ZR800, ZR950

Sony DCR-HC96

Panasonic PV-GS320

Mid:

Canon HV20, HV30

Sony HDR-HC7, HC9

High:

Sony HDR-FX1, FX7, HVR-A1U

Canon GL2, XL2

OMG:

Canon XHA1

Panasonic DVX100B, HDX200

Sony HVR-V1U, Z1U

You will also need:

A decent fluid head tripod.

A shotgun mic. One or two wireless lavalieres. A condenser mic. The good mics use XLR connections (except the Sennheiser wireless lavelieres) so if you get a camera with only a 1/8" mic-in jack, you will need a XLR adapter (like those from BeachTek).

In strong wind, use a zeppelin (also known as a "dead cat") on the shotgun mic.

A mic boom pole.

XLR mic cables.

Consider a SpiderBrace. Look into buying or making a "steadicam" device.

There are several ways to get dolly shots (buy a used wheelchair?) without spending a lot on a dolly.

DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.

I also do not recommend hard drive or flash based cameras - yet.

MiniDV tape continues to provide the BEST available video quality.

Take the hint from the professionals:

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBus...

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contro...

http://www.usa.canon.com/html/industrial...

http://pro.jvc.com/prof/attributes/categ...

http://www.panasonic.com/business/provid...

Nearly ALL are miniDV tape.