What camera and equipment best suited for wildlife filming?

Question

I am looking to do some wildlife filming and would like to know what is the best camera I can go for with a budget of around £2500. I used standard Defination before now I would like to up grade to HD. What would be the most appropriate power zoom to use? In the pased I used to use a Canon GL2 STD Def with X20 zoom which was a really nice zoom range but now feel the need to up grade to HD. Sony`s HVR-Z1 seems to have all that I need except for its lack to zoom range as it only has a X12..But it has the capability of filming in both PAL and NTSC which is just up my street as I would like to do shooting in other countrys where I will be based for long periods. Is there a camera out there that would be better suited? I am also looking at buying some editing kit. I believe Apple`s final cut is the one to go for? Can anyone suggest what specs I would need to run this editing program and where I might find some good deals? Any help or sites will be much appriciated.

Answer 1

For wildlife shooting, it certainly varies, but you can't go wrong with the longest lens you can afford.

I'd probably consider the Sony HVR-V1 instead of the Z1... it's a new design, it produces slightly cleaner video, it uses 14-bit CMOS sensors rather than 12-bit CCDs. And it comes with a 20x zoom, which is the real winner here for wildlife use. But sadly, not PAL/NTSC switching... there's a PAL version with 50i/25p video, and an NTSC version with 60i/30p/24p modes. The Z1 is a bit better in the dark, however... they sure don't make these things easy.

Of course, you might also consider the Canon XH-A1, also for the long 20x zoom. That's basically an HD version of the GL2.

HDV is no larger on disc than DV, but that's still 12GB per hour, so make sure you have a big HDD. Modern software on the PC makes HDV editing very fast (I use Sony Vegas), but I'm not sure that's possible in Final Cut just yet.

If not, you're forced to use Apple's "Intermediate" CODEC (there's a similar one on the PC from a company called Cineform), which converts the MPEG-2 to a larger but faster editing format. That would run around 50GB per hour, and results in a small loss of video quality. However, I think the only real options on the Mac are Final Cut and Avid... I'd got with Final Cut, simply because Avid intentionally cripples their $1200 product so they can sell you a higher-end version.

Answer 2

SLR Didgital and aa Lense thet you can get good close up shots with

i have a Canon Eos 450

Answer 3

The HVR-Z1 is probably close to about as good as it gets - especially because of its low-light video capture characteristics. The Canon XHA1 or XHG1 has better zoom - but the large LCD panel on the Z1 is really handy (I use a HDR-FX1, its prosumer sibling).

If you like the Z1 that much, you *could* add a tele lens...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/46...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/36...

If you are in the Macintosh environment, FinalCutPro2 is the way to go (I use an older version of FinalCut Pro and iMovieHD.)

FinalCut (and iMovieHD) require an Apple Macintosh. All Macs come standard with Firewire (at least they have for the last 10 years or so - the only exception is the new MacBook Air). If you are getting a new Mac, the 20" or 24" iMac would do the job (and you can add an external monitor to augment the built-in for additional real estate if needed), but a MacPro tower with multiple CinemaDisplay monitors would be REALLY cool (and expensive). Get as much RAM as you can afford - and that can fit in the machine. I'd say a minimum of 4 gig.

With HDV using ~44 gig of hard drive space per hour of imported video, I would also suggest an external firewire800 connected drive just for video projects... minimum size would be 500 gig. If you get a tower, then internal connection is great.

I presume you are across the pond (reference to £), so I don't know if this applies, but the student/teacher discount Apple makes available is pretty good. Also, if there is an Apple User Group in your area and one of the members is upgrading, you may find some good used gear for sale.

All that said, I use iMovieHD and FinalCut Pro (not Pro2) on my 4 year old 17" iMac G5 (PowerPC chip - not Intel)... and some of the import/export and rendering (transitions, effects, titles, etc.) may take a little longer, but it works...