Video Camera

[Phage]

Hi All,

The other half has a project to document the verbal history of our rural town. What is the easiest way to record good quality audio and 1080p video? It would be mostly interviewing indoors with fixed shots as the interviewees are not as mobile as they used to be.

Could this be done with an iPhone and and some sort of gorilla pod ? I'm not sure that the sound would be good ?

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It depends on how much you want to spend OFC!!

[Biscuit]

To add on to CTF's follow on question, What's the end products going to be used for?

[Phage]

500 max. Firstly for family historiesies and secondly to produce an oral history of my little town that will be used in our local museum.

I suspect some sort of external mic ?

[peterb]

You are right to be concerned about audio quality. For a record like this (and in many other situations, sound is far more important than video. If you record the conversation without video, it would still be useful. If you recorded it without sound, it wouldn't (unless you can lipread!)

There are others more qualified than I to suggest equipment, but you should consider a tripod and external microphones as part of your equipment list.

[Phage]

Yes - indeed.
I was hoping for a small camera, small stand and external mic input

[Saracen]

A good many SLRs and even compacts have video capabilities evrry bit good enough for this but yes, I agree with the external mic. The belt and braces way is to do the sound separately using a decent sound recorder, but then you'll likely have timing issues with lip-sync and be spending considerable time with a good edit suite.

As for specific models, I'm a bit out of date.

Given the subject matter, though, I'd be trying to find a compact camera wjth decent video. Something small and unobtrusive won't be as offputting for the interviewees, and if small enough, they might even forget it's there at all.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would probably consider this:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/panasonic-hc-vx870-review

Its can be under for under £500 and also does 4K:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras...Fc2PGwodY1UOng
https://www.pcworldbusiness.co.uk/bu...FVWRGwodFXYANQ

Edit!!

Another camera to consider might be the Panasonic FZ1000 - it uses a largish 1" sensor and a few YT channels do seem to use it for their own videos and has some impressive 4K video quality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afsUtMEUQmA


Its slightly above your budget but is also a competent camera.

The Panasonic G7 m4/3 camera is also on offer:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/pana...o-4-3s-2696938

You will need to buy a lens for it,but they are easy to find(read the comments) and is capable of decent video quality too.

[Phage]

Thanks Cat !
Is there anything you don't seem to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of.... ?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks Cat !
Is there anything you don't seem to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of.... ?

One thing to check with the cameras is how long you can video for - its usually limited by either the system getting warm,or the fact in Europe,this happened:

http://www.tested.com/tech/photograp...cording-limit/

The FZ1000 is a nice bit of kit TBH,and would be a nice camera to even take on holiday. The G7 might be more flexible as you can add lenses,etc but is a full blown ILC. The Panasonic TZ100 is much more pocketable than both and appears to have the same sensor as the FZ1000 but has no mic input,and the LX100 also does 4K too,but again has no mic input. They are both the smallest of the two camera options it seems.

[Phage]

Needs to small and as simple as possible.
Any ideas on mics ?

[Biscuit]

You are right to be concerned about audio quality. For a record like this (and in many other situations, sound is far more important than video. If you record the conversation without video, it would still be useful. If you recorded it without sound, it wouldn't (unless you can lipread!)

There are others more qualified than I to suggest equipment, but you should consider a tripod and external microphones as part of your equipment list.

I would second Peter here.
My recommendation based on what you have said so far would be to wire up the interviewer and interviewees with separate lapel microphones and multi-track record the audio via a PC audio interface or field recorder. Lip sync shouldn't really be an issue, just make sure to do an on screep clap before recording really starts.
If you spend the whole £500 on a camera, it doesn't leave a huge amount of room to achieve that though... (Sorry CTF, not having a dig but its true)

Have a look at some of the local AV rental companies and talk with them on the phone, at the very least, even if they cant find you what you need within budget, you should get some useful advise from them.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Needs to small and as simple as possible.
Any ideas on mics ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G2gwsPQsxU

That chap is using an FZ1000 with a generic £5 mic and £25 audiotechnica one,compared to ones which are £100+ or thereabouts.

The problem with cheapo cameras is the video is 1080p and low bitrate(even at 1080p),with low sensitivity,and you get what you pay for - if you are recording inside it probably means light is not as good inside,and you need decent enough AF,otherwise you running the risk of the camera repeatedly going in and out of focus,which some of the cheaper cameras do as they have worse AF systems.

Now you could manual focus,but again with cheapo cameras it will be harder to get that critical focus,since the viewfinders are another area where things are cost cut.

Also with the prevalence of 4K,I am uncertain how 1080p will look in a few years TBH,and with a higher bitrate 4K video it does give you more options in downsizing the video,editing etc.

They also tend to not have audio inputs,meaning you need to spend more on dedicated audio recorders. Its up to you how complex you want to make it,but I get the impression you want it to be simple to use.

The Panasonic camcorder might actually be the easiest to use of all of them TBH - the FZ1000 tends to bury stuff in menus,etc.

[peterb]

£500 is a bit limiting! I was looking at the Canon XA10 and an external mic, but you are getting into the £1,500 bracket, and if you add an external recorder like the BMD video assist or the Atomos Samurai or Ninja, you are pushing £2.5k - but you would get excellent results!

[Biscuit]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G2gwsPQsxU

That chap is using an FZ1000 with a generic £5 mic and £25 audiotechnica one,compared to ones which are £100+ or thereabouts.

Looks like he gets impressive results, but I guess you would be limited to a single microphone?
If the interviewer was sat at the other side of a coffee table, their audio wouldn't be picked up particularly well.
You could go for a "desktop" omni or a bi-directional and live with the compromise I suppose.

The problem with cheapo cameras is the video is 1080p and low bitrate,with low sensitivity,low DR sensors,and you get what you pay for.

Very true, but there must be some middle ground between a £500 4k camcorder and the cheapo 1080P ones?

£500 is a bit limiting! I was looking at the Canon XA10 and an external mic, but you are getting into the £1,500 bracket, and if you add an external recorder like the BMD video assist or the Atomos Samurai or Ninja, you are pushing £2.5k - but you would get excellent results!

You can pick up a decent USB audio interface with XLRs and phantom power for comfortably under £100. As long as you have a half decent laptop (note: careful with old/slow RPM hard drives) and combine it with Audacity (free) or whatever comes with the interface, you would get pretty good results.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Looks like he gets impressive results, but I guess you would be limited to a single microphone?
If the interviewer was sat at the other side of a coffee table, their audio wouldn't be picked up particularly well.
You could go for a "desktop" omni or a bi-directional and live with the compromise I suppose.


Very true, but there must be some middle ground between a £500 4k camcorder and the cheapo 1080P ones?




You can pick up a decent USB audio interface with XLRs and phantom power for comfortably under £100. As long as you have a half decent laptop (note: careful with old/slow RPM hard drives) and combine it with Audacity (free) or whatever comes with the interface, you would get pretty good results.

Well,the HC-VX870 4K camcorder is £430 from PCWorld,and its HD equivalent is £400 and looking at another AIO camera,I saw this one:

http://www.thevideomode.com/news/12-...k-camera-1170/

It looks a bit smaller than the FZ1000 which I forgot is quite large for an AIO camera.

It seems to have a 1/2.3" sensor like the camcorder does so probably has some limitations in more demanding situations but seems to be very high bitrate,so might do the job. It does seem to have a constant aperture lens though and is weather sealed.

It sold as the FZ330 in the UK and is around £400 to £450.

It might Phage needs to possibly look at going secondhand,or alternatively I wonder if they could get some sponsorship,so they can up the budget.

Edit!!

Part of the problem is camera prices have been affected by both the weak Yen and the weaker Pound so its not really helped.