camera recommendation

larry

Member
I used to shoot news video in the early 90's for a couple years. I want to buy a camera and do some one man band feature work.

Ideas?
 

Douglas

Well-known member
Really? That's all the background you can give about your needs, budget, skill level, type of video you'll be shooting, clients, etc. How can you expect to get any meaningful suggestions? I recommend either an iPhone or an F65 depending on the size of your camera bag. :)
 

cameragod

Well-known member
To be fair Doug early 90's there would only have been 2 cameras to choose from, things have changed a bit. Larry have a look at who you think your clients might be and see what format they would expect you to deliver on and go from there.

And more info would help.
 

Douglas

Well-known member
Stephen, what has that got to do with anything at all? You don't have to be active in the business to know that there is a ton more information someone would need to provide if they expect to get a useful answer. And why not do a little homework first and narrow down the choices or at least categories? Even a budget would help. I don't mean to be an a-hole, but come on, this is a professional forum, isn't it? Put a little effort into it.

BTW, I haven't driven since the 90's but I want to buy a car. Which one do you suggest?
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
Larry...I think it might help if you were to give us more details. "For a few years" could be two years up to ten and there's a lot of knowledge between those two. What size market did you work in? Were you full time staff? What kind of gear did you work with (camera and editing)?

Since then have you kept up at all in developments in video technology? There's a whole Digital Revolution between then and now - and the learning curve can be steep. Are you going to shoot or shoot and edit (more learning curve since you'll need to know nonlinear editing).

Who are your clients? The market has dropped out for freelancers and stations don't go around handing out plum assignments to non-staff. Heck, they can barely cover the news with staff and aren't paying them the way they used to.

I think the folks on b-roll would be more than willing to help if they had more of an idea of your experience and your plans. I do agree with Doug. Right now you haven't given us enough information to show you know the business.
 

BluesCam

Well-known member
FWIW, I shot news in the early 90's and it was Betacam with various cameras. Those days are long gone. As mentioned, you need to supply a budget and who you will be approaching as clients. There are SO many camera and format options now, that it isn't funny. However, what Doug said is: "I haven't driven since the 90's but I want to buy a car. Which one do you suggest?" :>) We are all willing to help you. More info, please.
 

Douglas

Well-known member
Okay, I'm lying. I already bought the car a couple of months ago. I've actually taken it on a couple of jobs instead of the van when I didn't need a lot of gear.



 

cameragod

Well-known member
Well you may have over done it, I had an early morning mix up over crew cars so my daughters MGF was the live truck for a day. ;-)

 
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Douglas

Well-known member
Nice live truck! But I think you need to get a dish for the roof.

When I want to overdo it on a shoot, this is what I take instead of the Cooper.

 

satpimp

Well-known member
Good showings guys!

Each vehicle choice has it's own implication on arrival at a shoot.

The Mini gets rapid response points..picture the "Italian Job" and handbrake arrivals. (XD Cam, top notch support)

The RV implies conquest as soon as you roll up. (4K, Network talent or film with grip trucks and stunt teams)

The MG wins though. My first car was a '69 B type rally car. Nostalgia carries the day. (F55 with spare batteries, cash and music for a ripping driveumentary across anywhere)

The thread is still off the rails but those are my ideals based on everyone else's sweet ride.
 

Douglas

Well-known member
I had a pristine red '75 MG Midget for about 5 years in the '90's. Didn't drive it much though, and then one day I realized why -- I hate convertibles. You're right , this thread has seriously gone off the rails.
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
PBS understatement: I drove an ugly little black 1962 VW bug into the White Night riot in San Francisco. Every other car in the area was trashed by rioters and looters except the bug (which had KQED/PBS id on it).
 

Douglas

Well-known member
It was spared because everyone respects a bug! I had a restored red '63 bug in 80's. Fun car to drive. I'll bet you wish you still had yours. Someone made me an offer for mine that was too good to refuse after I'd only had it a couple of years.
 

satpimp

Well-known member
A KQED Bug, cool! Even the anti WTO anarchists would walk past that! I drove a '69 bug in Pittsburgh through about 1994. It was my winter ride up Television Hill until we bought an Explorer. Great in the snow. Chilly ride, but old rusty trusty didn't get stuck like everything else. It had no cool markings other than dents and rust. the camera equivalent would be a vintage Leica 35mm that had been dropped a couple times.
 

svp

Well-known member
Larry,

A lot depends on your budget and who you intend to shoot these features for. Will you be editing your own stuff? There are so many options. When I have to OMB, I prefer my smaller Sony NX5U. It shoots AVCHD on SDHC cards which is considered a prosumer format but the camera produces nice images and I haven't had any issues editing 1080 AVCHD video on Adobe Premiere. I've been able to match the image almost perfectly with my HPX370 so I can use both on a shoot and not worry about a difference in images. That would be the low end of my recommendation. You can get a new NX5 for about $3600 from B&H. I've had mine since 2010 and have never had an issue with it. It is an older model and much newer versions from Sony are on the market. If you provide more info I'd be happy to provide a better recommendation.
 

satpimp

Well-known member
Larry,

All kidding and Top Gear Envy aside. Describe more about what you want to accomplish. We clearly have time resource to help dispense advice. Form factor and workflow are the buzzwords today. A lot of options for both, and all are sparkly new. The Digital Revolution happened. It was an extinction event for analog video.

Identify your client/audience first, then see how they want their product. Digital options and price ranges are vast. Stringer or freelance gigs at a local stations are few and far between. OMB/MMJ/Backpack Journalists could be an option, but stations that do actual features or nat sound pieces are fewer and farther than those using stringers.

I still would love to see a picture of Cyndy's QED bug gleaming amidst the riot. The way I picture it, it would be a great book cover shot for the memoir.
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
I still would love to see a picture of Cyndy's QED bug gleaming amidst the riot. The way I picture it, it would be a great book cover shot for the memoir.
I wish I had that shot...but it never gleamed while I owned it and with KQED's limited resources we only had two crews that night. Was too busy scrambling and ducking tear gas and rocks.
 
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