It is probably about time to update this. Not to buy a camera, mind you, but to revisit a topic that must continually be updated, thanks to techno-changes, which NEVER seem to slow down. A good and a bad thing. Good cause those little babycams seem to get better and better. Bad cause…well, who really wants to know the camera they got just last week or last year is already out of date?
A quick review of prior posts on this topic will give you an idea of what has changed and what hasn’t.
First, the ground rules. Our focus is affordable (now there’s a topic to debate) cameras for Videojournalists. Run and gun style…this means zoom lens, professional manual controls and audio inputs, although I may dip down to prosumer for the latter (will explain that as I go along). This is for camera only…you’ll need to review prior posts (Oh look! There’s one right down there!) for supplemental gear such as mike, lights, tripods.
The camera is the mainstay of a VJ’s bag of tricks. It has to be durable, easy to use (if YOU supply the knowledge, skills, and talent), and not over-the-top expensive. For the sake or fairness, this time I’ll take a look at several levels of cameras: under $1K, under $2K, and under $5K. (FYI: the “K” stands for thousand, not kazillion.)
Now I’m not advocating you buy from any particular store…I try my best to buy local when I can…but some of my needs are more specialized than local can handle so I hop online…and I’ve found that certain sites are not only safe and reliable, but also have really snazzy search functions when you aren’t quite certain what you want. Top of the list here (and, again, you choose your site…don’t follow my lead blindly) is B & H Photography.
I’ll be explaining how to conduct a search using this site (official disclaimer: nothing exchanges hands between us except my cold hard cash with no discounts for whatever it is I want…just like you and everyone else) so you can pick it up to search for whatever it is you want.
So…click on “Video Professional.” That will get you out of the confusing realm of consumer cameras and into cameras with a bit of heft and functions. Next, click on “Camcorders.” On this date there are 103 choices…way too many to inspect closely.
So next we will begin selecting features and at the same time, cutting back on the number of cameras to check out. Um…and since I tend to be VERY budget conscious, I’m gonna change the “Sort By” function from “Best Sellers” to “Price: Low to High.” Although popularity is often an indicator of a good value with all the features, I’m not one to be lead by the herd…and herd thinking isn’t always thinking.
The 103 choices range from a little Sony number for around $1,000 (with no lens mind you) to $80,000 plus for another Sony camera – again, with no lens. Yep…for the price of a home in your average little Mid-Western town you can own a camera body.
So let the sorting begin! I never begin by selecting a brand…frankly the six companies listed are all reputable and make solid equipment. I’m going to skip “Camera Configuration” because I can predict that the broadcast cameras are going to be too pricy…and they are. Although many (many many) TV stations are purchasing babycams and low-end broadcast cameras, this category runs the gamut from $45,000 to that top-end Sony at $80,000.
My first sort will be for resolution, and I’m choosing HD. Our list is down to 90 choices.
The next choice will be for Media Format – a can of worms if ever there was one. This gets personal, but here’s how I choose. I will not choose a tape camera…tape is getting harder to find off the shelf and is a fading technology (my opinion). Also skip Internal Memory…again a personal choice cause I like to trade out memory cards to hand off to others or to download while I continue shooting. The six remaining choices are all variations on memory cards. Being the practical tightwad that I am, I would go with SDHC…because the cards are commonly available if you need them and affordable to boot.
If you’ve got the cash, check out the other cards. SxS, P2, and memory sticks are common choices, although you’d better have a supply on hand. Again, you can’t just run over to Walgreens and pick them up.
There are 42 camcorders that use SDHC cards. Price points from that no-lens low-end Sony at around $1,000 to upper end to a Panasonic (no lens) model at $15,000.
Let’s keep looking.
We’ll look at the upper end choices first – between $3,000 and $5,000. (Go to Price and type in the range of prices you are looking for.) There are 17 in this category.
Here’s where you have to know your stuff to winnow the list down further. So, from the top.
If you’re interested in free shipping, rebates, or want to buy immediately (in stock) click those. Since I’m just looking for features, I won’t click those right now.
We’ll skip brand again, although you’ll notice we are down to the three: JVC, Panasonic, Sony.
NTSC or NTSC/Pal? If you are only shooting in the US of A, doesn’t matter…the format here is NTSC. If you are going overseas to countries that use PAL, you may want to click that box.
Next choice is CCD vs. CMOS. Another can of worms..each chip has it’s merits and issues, so I’m not going to choose either for you. (Will tell you that the single CCD camera is the one I purchased myself a few years back though.)
There’s a slew of features to choose from, but at this price range the only thing I’m really interested in is the audio input – XLRs. That gets us down to 15 cameras.
Digital Interface – this category pretty much deals with cameras used in-house and plugged into studio and live setups. Since we’re out in the field on our own for now we’ll skip that.
For Codec I’m choosing mpeg-4. Again, latest codec/most commonly used.
And we’re down from 103 to 13 cameras. A few final eliminations. I will not choose a 3D camera so cross that off the list. Also, since we’re on a budget, the camera must come with a lens. Oh – and skip the “Field Acquisition Backpack.” Not going there.
So we are down to 9 choices…and all of them are possibilities. Here’s where I place the burden back on YOU. Choose a camera. Any camera. For convenience I’ll walk you thru the first one on the list. The Sony HXR NX70U at $2,800. Choose it.
Go ahead and read the overview…but your real meat is on the Specs sheet. There you’ll see that it has a single half inch CMOS chip, shoots to both memory sticks and SDHC (and more). Personal concern: filter size is only 37mm and that tells me this is a small camera and I might not want it.
Check out “What’s In The Box” to make sure your get a complete package – camera, lens, battery and charger as well as necessary cables.
Now cruise through the Reviews to make sure there aren’t any nasty surprises. And read those with the proverbial grain of salt. Generally the pros reviewers will be more on point than the casual users. If you read all of the reviews you can at least discern a pattern of pros and cons.
Your homework? Check out each camera. I have some personal preferences…generally like three chip cameras for higher quality. I look at the location of the manual controls for focus (on the ring), audio (where I can access them quickly), iris (again…easily accessed and used) and white balance (rarely if ever use auto WB). Built-in neutral density filters help you hop from dark to extremely bright scenes without having to screw on an external filter. A switch to increase gain lets you shoot in lower light situations.
Now, very quickly, I’ll check out the under $2,000 cameras and move on to under $1,000.
The former – just hop down to price and change the numbers to $1,000 to $2,000. Oh – and unclick XLR audio. In this price range you may be looking at prosumer mini-jack audio. There are eight contenders that fit my specs in this price range (after eliminating those w/no lens and other factors). Again, check them out individually and read the reviews.
Now for the final category – under $1,000. For these we’ll have to enter the wide open consumer Camcorders area. Once you’re in, choose Camcorders again and right away enter a price range of 0 to 1,000. The original 195 choices will drop to – 185??? Way too many, so let’s start narrowing again.
Let’s choose a resolution of HD-1080 and get our choices down to 133. Under features choose Mike Input. Down to 30 cameras. Going to eliminate under Factors the Sports type by choosing Palm and Pocket and then for Media SDXC/SDHC/SD cards. Down to 22 choices with prices ranging from one Toshiba on sale for $149 to an upper end Sony at $898.
Again read the reviews and specs to really get a handle on features and performance.
One feature I notice I cruised through above is single vs. three chip cameras. The latter are pretty much standard in the professional field…and the bigger the chips, the better for higher resolution and low light ability. I will say that a single 1/2 chip can put out and amazing picture…but multiply that by three and you are in Nirvana!
Here’s a Happy New Year to all of you out there and wishing you the best in finding the camera of your dreams. On a budget or otherwise. Questions? Fire them off.
