Communicating between camera operators
 

Hello all,
This is aimed towards those who do larger events with several camera operators.

You are taping a large event, and you have a few manned ( Personed? ) cams spread out for different angles. How do you communicate to the other people what you want shot? I was thinking of those two way radios with boom mics, running on the family frequency. Has anyone tried these, or do you know of a better way?
Thanks,
Keith

Every time we shoot an event - no matter how large or small - we use two-way family channel radios to communicate. You need to make sure you get radios that allow an external headset and "Push To Talk (PTT)" button to be attached - not all do.

Our radios have a two hole plug that the PTT button attaches to. The PTT button has a single hole plug that the headset attaches to. You can get different headsets to suit your style (i.e. over the head, over the ear, in the ear...)

We would be lost without our radios.

Thanks Edward,
What model do you have, where did you get it, and how much?
Thanks,
Keith

Radio Shack - $40 to $60 each for the radios. About $20+ each for the headsets. About $15 on the PTT buttons. Figure up to $100 per radio.

For example:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F001%5F002%5F006%5F000&product%5Fid=21%2D1861


http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F001%5F002%5F006%5F000&product%5Fid=21%2D1832


http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F001%5F002%5F006%5F000&product%5Fid=21%2D1838

If you are working in a dense urban area the family band units may be a bit unreliable. You'll hear alot of other chatter and reception can be dicey. In such a situation a good set of Motorola commercial walkie talkies will be a better bet. They can also be fitted with headsets and feature rechargeable batteries which generally last at least throughout a day. They will be more expensive but not horrible if you stick to lower wattage (shorter distance) units.

We use the family channel walkies, but we do get a lot of annoying interference. Since all of our camera work is done stationary in a church, I am looking for something more substantial, any suggestions?

We do periodically hit times when someone is on the channel we are using. However, with 14 available, it is usually easy enough to find one that is not currently being used. Also, we'll sometimes get transient noise from a nearby interstate. But overall, they have worked very well for us.

The motorola walkie talkies (talkabouts) seem to be great in enclosed spaces, but I have run into lots of traffic (on all channels) when I try and use them in an urban environment. It seems to be worse on weekends when families are using them to keep track of kids and such, and i find I am usually rying to use them on weekends.