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What should I consider when buying a camcorder?

Camcorder or camera for documentary w/ interviews(sometimes at night)?

  • First, I'm not a film student I just want to make documentaries around cultural/anthropological topics so eventhough I had been reading stuff on documentary making I got no idea. So my questions are what kind of "kit" should I buy for interviews which will be filmed sometimes at night and outdoors. I'm solo and filming this without nobody else; only me and the interviewee. So it would be useless to buy a huge load of equipment since I alone can't control it. Having this in mind, I want to spend tops $5.000 in camera or camcorder (which one you recommend better for me), maybe some light?, microphone, what else should I consider buying?

  • Answer:

    Actually, lare is right. For *real* documentaries with the environment you are talking about, the minimum would be something in the Sony HDR-FX1000 or above (Canon XHA1, Panasonic AG-HVX200, etc). That would include the camcorder, Pelican cases, high capacity batteries, tripod, shoulder-mount steadying device, Sennheiser G3 wireless laveliere or two, Shure handheld mic, Audio-Technica shotgun mic, external digital audio recording device (like a Zoom H4) and a couple of LitePanel LED lights on stands - or maybe smaller camera-mounted units... So... you got all your video and audio... if you don't have a way to edit, who cares? If you can't back up your video, and your computer crashes, that will be lots of fun.

MrQuesti... at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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you should also consider getting a 'professional' video editor program. they usually run about $500 so you need to put that in the budget. another good idea would be to get a Terabyte drive to archive your work, that should not cost a lot, but it all adds up.

lare

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