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Home: Video University Forums: Canon All Camcorders:
Camera shopping, with no Education...little help?

Christian219
Novice

Jul 7, 2005, 8:19 PM

Post #1 of 7 (1771 views)
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Camera shopping, with no Education...little help?	Can't Post

I'll make this short and sweet... I know absolutely nothing about cameras.
Could anyone make some suggestions on what to buy, and what to look for in a good camera?

Also if possible list some recommended reading for a better understanding of cameras, and filmming.

~Christian219

(This post was edited by Christian219 on Jul 7, 2005, 8:20 PM)

ChadC
User

Jul 8, 2005, 7:28 PM

Post #2 of 7 (1749 views)
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Re: [Christian219] Camera shopping, with no Education...little help? [In reply to]	Can't Post

As to what to buy, that really depends on what your budget is and what you are wanting to accomplish. If you are wanting to learn to use a video camera, I haven't checked but I would imagine there are countless training books available on amazon.com. There are also several video how to's out there. Just a few that come to mind are available at dvcreators.net and pixelpops.com. Good luck

chad

Waldemar
Enthusiast

Jul 8, 2005, 9:14 PM

Post #3 of 7 (1748 views)
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Re: [Christian219] Camera shopping, with no Education...little help? [In reply to]	Can't Post

Regarding what to buy, have a clear understanding of what you want to do with the camera. Then study, study, study. Another good site is www.dvinfo.com. It requires registration. You may well find your initial choice either far beyond or below your actual needs. You may well be satisfied with a high end single chip camera if your interest is personal as opposed to generating income. Before purchasing, read as much an you can (again), and then be prepared to discover some small measure of disappointment in your purchase. All cameras are different, and there is always the situation where you will wish you had made a different purchasing choice. Everyone makes this conclusion at some point.
Finally, after having made a purchase, committ yourself to mastering the camera. In my opinion, this is the only way to progress in terms of both style and the acquisition of additional equipment.
G5 1.8. Final Cut/QT Pro/iMovie/Still Life. GL1. XL1-s

Christian219
Novice

Jul 8, 2005, 9:48 PM

Post #4 of 7 (1742 views)
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Re: [ChadC] Camera shopping, with no Education...little help? [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thank you guys for your input... I realize now that I did not do too good of a job specifying, I apologize. This is actually the first time I've written on a forum. Ok for a better elaboration I want to produce feature length films.
Now like I said I have no previous camera experience, and other than what I've read on here, very little knowledge. I want a camera that is affordable (In the $5000.00 range), and other possible neccessities for feature filmming. Basically I would like to know what equipment is needed to make feature length films, that actually look like feature length films :) Oh and sound like feature length films. As for a total budget $14,000.00. Thank you for your help, I wish I could elaborate more, but the sad simple truth is I don't know what I need, and don't have too clear an idea on where to look for it. I'm just another average 3rd grader trapped in a 20 year old body :)

~Christian219

Beverly
User

Jul 25, 2005, 11:24 PM

Post #5 of 7 (1592 views)
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Re: [Christian219] Camera shopping, with no Education...little help? [In reply to]	Can't Post

What type of quality are you looking for? Indy films, or do you want Paramount quality. What type of films are you going to be doing? Are you considering going to school.
Have you considered how you are going to learn to operate the equipment, how to edit, light, run sound, cast, read and write a script, how to direct, produce, shoot, gather sponsors, market, run a crew, do folli, produce graphics, special effects, know how to get location agreements, talent releases, security, city or county permits to do a shoot, learn to do a script rundown, how to shoot sequences in an order to save time and money, obtain props and countless other factors.

Are you going to be a one man crew or are you going to hire or obtain other people to help you? Where are you going to get these people? Do they have experiece?

Good Luck!

mjeppsen
Veteran

Aug 1, 2005, 2:13 PM

Post #6 of 7 (1556 views)
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Re: [Christian219] Camera shopping, with no Education...little help? [In reply to]	Can't Post

Christian, you may be interested in this short film: http://www.whatisbroken.com/
100 vfx shots, 8k budget. They look like they did it right...
The site has a forum, and there is also a thread somewhere on the DvInfo forum that talks about this short film. I would bet that you could find a similiar thread on the DVX forums also. Cool

Matt Jeppsen
www.FreshDV.com

mvmaker
User

Aug 6, 2005, 10:30 AM

Post #7 of 7 (1516 views)
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Re: [Christian219] Camera shopping, with no Education...little help? [In reply to]	Can't Post

With a budget of $14,000 you are in good shape as long as you invest in the best equipment and are not afraid to do most of the low end jobs on a film.

First you MUST invest in a 24fps camera. There are HDV 24fps cams and DV 24fps cams. The question you need to know most is whether you intend to transfer it to film or leave it in the digital domain. If you plan to transfer then get a good HDV 24fps camera which when blown up has a 16mm look along with some post processing. Light as you would film and remember that no matter the frame rate you have to pay attention to your gamma curves as well.

Buy your camera at least a month in advance of production so you can experiment with different looks and then save the looks you like the most in a scene file memory.

Good luck buddy and remember unlike film you can reshoot bad shots without costing your budget a major setback.

MV