Buying a Digital Video Camera for work

Alangers

Just looking for some advice. I have been tasked with purchasing a digital video camera for my work place. I work in a practical training environment and the primary use of the camera will be to record practical tasks that will be evaluated later.

I use a imovie and FC to my video editing so the camera needs to be compatible to those products.

My budget is €550. I have a tripod and I don't believe I need much in the way of accessories. Can anyone make a suggestion as to a good quality camera? Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers
A

studiorat

Ditto.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056652966

I spotted a Canon HV 40 on Pixmania for 565 including a case. Only camera with DV out I could find...

briano.de.rhino

Dont forget to figure in an external mic into your budget. I got a rode videomic for a bout €100. It plugs straight into your minijack mic hole, on most cheaper cameras.(earphone size).

Someone once said that films are 70% about the audio and it is true. If you mess up the video you can add an effet or cut to a photo or different scene and get away with the mistake but without crisp, smooth audio your audience will not be able to listen.

m83

briano.de.rhino wrote: »

Dont forget to figure in an external mic into your budget. I got a rode videomic for a bout €100. It plugs straight into your minijack mic hole, on most cheaper cameras.(earphone size).

Someone once said that films are 70% about the audio and it is true. If you mess up the video you can add an effet or cut to a photo or different scene and get away with the mistake but without crisp, smooth audio your audience will not be able to listen.

OP, please disregard this advice. You're not shooting a film. You don't need external audio for recording manual workplace tasks.

HV40 is a perfect suggestion btw.

briano.de.rhino

Perhaps true....but if it is merely recording tasks for record/archive as the OP states, they could do so on a point and shoot with video function.

Wheras they have proposed a budget of €550 so they must hold the task or resulting footage in some regard.

Therefore, A €450 camera with a €100 videomic is better than a €550 camera with inbuilt mic.

@OP - If you only want advice on a camera for the price tag, go with mc85's advice. Advice on optimum camera/equipment setup for the price tag is a different question.....one you may not care to delve into.

good luck with your purchase.

EDIT:After a second look at your post..... Oh the egotism of telling people to disregard anothers advice on a public forum. I got your name wrong, m83, apologies. And the OP isnt shooting film, I never said they were, regardless, quality is a must.....from crappy youtube or a friends holiday movieclips up to hollywood movies, u must have good audio or my brain automatically turns off. It disengages from the piece which is not what u want your audience to do.

m83

Trust me, he doesn't need an external mic. I'm a qualified engineer and have made numerous work studies in my time. Audio is not even used. It's just about visually breaking down the process into the individual steps for either training or process improvement purposes.

And now speaking with my videographer's hat on - audio is extremely important for 99% of productions - we just happen to be dealing with that 1%er here.

mc85, out

studiorat

I'm a sound engineer by trade. I wouldn't rate a €100 microphone that plugs in via mini-jack. That mic is going to be no different in quality that what's on the camera itself. They'll both be electret condensors and both using the same pre-amp. We use these cameras to record music performances, there's no improvement to be had using any of those cheap video microphones. If you pick a decent sounding room and a good position you'll be fine.

The only advantage with a mic like that is that you can get it closer to the action. So if I was going for a separate mic I'd go for a little lavalier clip on job that I could hide. A set of earphones and using your ears would be much more use IMO.

briano.de.rhino

Id have to disagree, having used cheap minijack mics, they are cleaner and record a better sound than any onboard mic, let alone a cheap 500 euro cameras onboard mic. There is way less machine sounds if any. But it is just a slight upgrade and not ideal but on a budget, I think it is better to have a rode videomic or similar on a 400 camera than a 500 camera with onboard mic. Based on having recorded with both setups.

A cheap lavalier radio mic kit could be €600, though I could be wrong.

Alangers

Thanks for the Advice... Its a bit of a minefield out there. Was also thinking of upgrading my Macbook to a iMac with FinalCut Pro x and then realised it won't work with a lot of cameras.. they really don't make these things easy do they???

I'm really not that interested in sound as a lot of it will just be for reviewing footage but I guess it would be best to get the most for my budget.

Saw the HV40 on Pixmania but apple site says its not compatible with FCPX. Don't see why it will work with one and not the other.

studiorat

Alangers wrote: »

Thanks for the Advice... Its a bit of a minefield out there. Was also thinking of upgrading my Macbook to a iMac with FinalCut Pro x and then realised it won't work with a lot of cameras.. they really don't make these things easy do they???

Now that really is a minefield, still haven't come across a satisfactory solution...

ScumLord

Alangers wrote: »

Thanks for the Advice... Its a bit of a minefield out there. Was also thinking of upgrading my Macbook to a iMac with FinalCut Pro x and then realised it won't work with a lot of cameras.. they really don't make these things easy do they???

That's weird I thought Macs where the go to for video editing? Windows is compatible with everything to the point a lot of software is optimised for windows so it will run better than it would on a mac. I'm against the use of laptops for video editing, there are a lot of pluses to using a desktop for the editing. Ports won't be an issue because you can just buy a card for the desktop that will give it the ports. You need processing power and it's just cheaper to get the power you need in a desktop. Hard drive space and speed will become a major issue when editing video, both of these are much more flexible when using a desktop. But that's me, many would disagree.