Decent Equipment

by **JesusFightsNaked** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 1:15 pm

Hey guys. I'll be coming into a nice bonus here within the next year (voluntold trip to unknown destinations) and I was kind of wondering what some of the other aspiring film guru's choice of camcorder is. Red One is out of the question so we don't need to go down that road. I'm halfway through my own screenplay and actually got a crew of friends willing to participate for free so I'd like to have something that looks halfway good. I already got all the other equipment I'd need. I'd say I wouldn't wanna go over $3,000 for the camcorder since I've got a family and I'll be leaving my current "profession" permanently when I get back. Need to save that money.

All I got right now is a Canon 310xl Super 8mm camera that was given to me. It's cool but I always end up screwing up the film stock (which is friggin' expensive)! Last time I spent almost $100 to have it processed and converted to hard drive and I ruined it by walking around the yard filming grass and ants. Shitty thing was I didn't even realize I did it. I thought I was filming some really good stuff but then it comes back and it's just my feet and ant hills. Also, you only get 2 1/2 minutes of footage with one cartridge of super 8 film. Can't hang with that kind of cost.

Recommendations would be gnarly.

by **shiki-jitsu** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:03 am

Be a hipster: Pixelvision.

by **Neon Maniac** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 3:33 pm

by **DJBenz** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:07 pm

AR mentioned, in his review of Absentia, how good the camera used was. Not that I know anything about these things, but it might give you food for thought.

http://www.horrortalk.com/reviews/1018-absentia.html

by **Alien Redrum** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:53 pm

Beat me to it, DJ.

Here is the camera I was talking about. Hopefully Kevin will see this thread and pipe in because I think he knows much more about it than I do.

by **JesusFightsNaked** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:33 pm

I appreciate the suggestion shiki, but I was thinking more about this one:

The Canon 5d looks nice. I read good stuff about the Panasonic HS700, too. I thought about the Sony NEX that is a camcorder that can use interchangeable lenses. I'll need a good one for low light shooting.

by **kangas** » Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:32 pm

The problem with the DSLR thing is that it's very easy to get the camera cheap, but without nice lenses you're screwed. It'll look like garbage. And nice lenses will cost you at least 1K apiece(and you should have a nice wide and a decent mid-to-telephoto)...so by the time you buy the body with an extra battery, a couple of SD cards so you don't have to dump the footage every 5 minutes, and 2 lenses, you will have spent at least 3K.

If you're just looking to shoot some good looking stuff for the web while you get your filmmaking sea legs under you, pretty much any under 1K camera(the Canon Vixia's have a nice image and shoot pretty well under low-light situations) will work. You won't get that shallow depth of field that is the rage, at least not without trying very hard, but if you're new to filmmaking then that's not what you need right now anyway.

If you're dead set on the DSLR, buy the t2i which is basically a 7D in a smaller body--get the kit for like $800 and it'll have a cheap lens. That will get you started, and I'd say rent the lenses until you figure out which lenses you like.
(this is a good all-purpose starter lens:)
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-24-105mm-US ... horro06-20

Look for L-series lenses--they're nice. The lower the F-stop rating, the easier it will be to get that look everybody likes.

by **JesusFightsNaked** » Mon Dec 27, 2010 10:58 pm

I went to one of those hole in the wall shops that was sort of like a flea market and found myself a Canon Scoopic 16mm camera for $75. This thing has been serviced and works perfectly. I felt kind of bad because I don't think the guy knew what he had. I might just drop in on B&H Photo and buy myself some 16mm film and send it off to a friend in Atlanta who can transfer this stuff for relatively cheap. I love the film look (dust, scratches, etc.) so I might just use that and mix it up with the super 8 camera I have. I don't mind spending the extra cash on sound equipment, film and whatnot.

Not a picture of mine but the same model.

I might experiment with this one for a while. On the side, I'll probably just go with a slightly cheaper digital cam because there are so many tricks you can use in post production that it's ridiculous. What I shoot doesn't have to have the "Hollywood" look anyway.

by **shiki-jitsu** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:52 pm

I saw a mention of this on WIRED and thought of JesusFightsNaked...

http://www.cinemaoutofyourbackpack.com/

and the original article: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/01/ ... -backpack/

by **JesusFightsNaked** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 5:37 pm

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Nice article. Thanks for sharing.