Selecting Camera - Shooting Instructional Videos
 

Greetings,

I am currently in the market for a high end consumer camcorder to shoot and produce instructional videos. The videos fall into a wide range of topics from photography to triathlon training. Videos will be prepared for commercial sale so I am looking for the highest quality I can get out of a consumer camcorder. This is a small startup company and if things go well, we will make the jump to higher end cameras.

We won't be shooting in tough conditions. Instructors will be Lav Mic'd so sound shouldn't be too much of an issue. Other than that, camera movements and filming should be fairly straight forward and simple.

I am after the best bang for my buck. I like the idea of solid state recording as opposed to HDs but am open to either. I was pretty much set on the new HF S11 coming out in April now but am now looking back at the currently available models and wondering, is the difference in price worth the extra resolution.

I am migrating to video from professional photography where resolution means a lot. In video, I thought 1080 was 1080 but I am realizing there is more to it than that. CAn someone fill me in and make some recommendations?

Thanks!

Best,
Drew

Your workflow is integral to making the right camera decision, also your editing machine. Look at your choice with a macro view.

AVCHD needs more computing power to edit than HDV and really needs a Quad Core PC minimum.

Tape vs. tapeless brings up the issue of archiving source footage. You'll need to work that out too.

Considering all of this should help you zero in on the right choice.

Tripp,

Thanks for the help.

I realize AVCHD is a bit of an issue when it comes to editing and native support. I will be doing my editing on Premiere CS4 on a MacPro 2.6 QuadCore with 12 GB RAM. Archiving digital media is less of an issue with me as I have a great system already built for my still photo workflow with over a terabyte already in archives. I know I'll eat through memory much faster but I have a good archive system already in place.

Hope that helps.

Drew

Do you really need to shoot HD? Are you going to be distributing online or DVD?

You mentioned being a professional photographer and using a point and shoot video camera. While these new point and shoots take great video, they can be maddening to adjust.

You might consider instead something like a Sony HVR-HD1000 or the mature Panasonic AG-DVC20, or the new Panasonic AG-HMC70. Also, maybe this first camera could be used for two camera shoots. So maybe if you think upgrading to Sony EX1 you might consider the HD1000 for a first try (easier editing in mixed footage of similar cameras).

And there is something to be said for the talent being impressed/unimpressed by your equipment.

it's HF S10/100, I suppose to receive the camera soon and will post some comparison shots, but from what I've seen it'll be some major step up from the last year models,
my advice go with your budget, even HV10 with the proper lighting looks awesome on my 50"