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Camcorder buying advice
Orogogus
San DiegoRegistered User regular
San DiegoRegistered User regular
The choir I'm in is looking to record videos of its performances. Previously one of the choir member's friends would make recordings for us, but this resulted in very blurry 360p video and terrible audio. We'd like to handle this ourselves, and I was asked to look into what kind of camcorder would be needed.
I'm hardly an expert, but these are the specifics and requirements I've worked out so far:
- The camcorder is generally positioned 30-50 feet from the performers
- 720p, preferably 1080p. Something that can make out facial features at 50 feet, ideally
- The videos will be posted to Youtube, and copies will also be made available on DVD
- Up until now I'd been using Handbrake to mess around with IFO and VOB files and get them into an uploadable format, but it would be nice to avoid this if possible, with a camcorder that can output to MP4 or AVI or MPG or anything directly uploadable
- The director has a condenser microphone and stand, which we'd like to use with a mic input. Most of the deals I've seen on Fatwallet/Slickdeals haven't had a mic input. I'm not sure if the condenser is going to pick up the instrumentalists, though, which may be up to 20 feet away from the singers. Just something that can avoid the audience noise is desired
- We have a 6 foot tripod
- Concerts are expected to last 90 minutes, so I need a battery life of 100+ min. or something that can be swapped out or plugged in to a wall socket. Plugging it in isn't really our first choice, but it's better than nothing
Any advice on what camcorder to buy, or any other details I should be aware of, would be appreciated.
I'm hardly an expert, but these are the specifics and requirements I've worked out so far:
- The camcorder is generally positioned 30-50 feet from the performers
- 720p, preferably 1080p. Something that can make out facial features at 50 feet, ideally
- The videos will be posted to Youtube, and copies will also be made available on DVD
- Up until now I'd been using Handbrake to mess around with IFO and VOB files and get them into an uploadable format, but it would be nice to avoid this if possible, with a camcorder that can output to MP4 or AVI or MPG or anything directly uploadable
- The director has a condenser microphone and stand, which we'd like to use with a mic input. Most of the deals I've seen on Fatwallet/Slickdeals haven't had a mic input. I'm not sure if the condenser is going to pick up the instrumentalists, though, which may be up to 20 feet away from the singers. Just something that can avoid the audience noise is desired
- We have a 6 foot tripod
- Concerts are expected to last 90 minutes, so I need a battery life of 100+ min. or something that can be swapped out or plugged in to a wall socket. Plugging it in isn't really our first choice, but it's better than nothing
Any advice on what camcorder to buy, or any other details I should be aware of, would be appreciated.
Orogogus on
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Your best way to do this is to record video and audio separately. You aren't going to get a line in on an HD camera without spending $700+ and even then, who knows how good the audio feed will be processed. If it helps, on TV and in movies and in everything, audio is always recorded separately. It is a completely different piece of equipment.
A separate recording setup could work, but I don't know that we'll be able to find an operator to do anything more complicated than turn on, focus, start and stop. We're almost certainly not going to find anyone to man a sound board or anything.
These two Canon camcorders look good on paper. I'm trying to find a way to gauge the video quality, but am having limited luck finding anything comparable on Youtube.
Canon FS200 Flash Memory Camcorder w/41x Advanced Zoom (Evening Blue) - 2009 MODEL, $355:
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Memory-Camcorder-Advanced-Evening/dp/B001OI2VYA/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298170905&sr=1-4
Canon VIXIA HF M300 Full HD Flash Memory Camcorder, $349:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00322OOCS/ref=cm_cd_asin_lnk
Both these reviews mention poor performance in low light situations. We're going to rent two light trees to help with lighting, since we had a bad experience with our last venue's overhead lighting.
I bought this last week when it was about $20 cheaper (but its still a great price) and while I haven't gotten much of a chance to play with it, there are some really good looking test shots from this on YouTube (YouTube the camera model for samples, keep in mind some people suck at getting the settings right). I would buy a camera, such as this, some audio gear (can't help you there), and some video editing software. If anyone has a Mac, their built in software is great for what you need, if not look into Pinnacle. That version is cheap at only $40, but can't burn Blu-Rays, which should be fine for you.