Shooting All Day Presentations

[Alexandru Cristescu]

Just get some generic cut aways u can always use and record sound externally... If you do that u can even turn your cameras off for a few mins to prevent overheating or just run the 60d so they dont think your slacking.......Tight medium and wide and you should be good.

[Kin Lau]

David,

I respect your workflow - but your cure sounds much worse than the disease.

But I do agree, I would not shoot with a DSLR in this scenario unless I did not have a choice.If I was stuck doing this, I would shoot with my GH1 instead, no 12min limit and it can run off AC power. I would even lean towards using my consumer HF100 instead for an un-manned B-cam instead of my 7D or T3i. The DSLR would be good for candids or alternate angles etc.

[Alexandru Cristescu]

I really think you should go for it and try it out. Bring your EX just in case you find out its not really your flavor. Pack some 32 gig cards, eliminate the need to change cards as much and bring extra batteries and you charger in case you need to re charge. 60D shouldn't over heat so occasionally grab some cutaways with your 7D and give it a few mins rest once in a while. If any case your subject goes bad you can always go to a cutaway in the meantime just make sure you records sound externally as well.

Bad case scenario: You work harder, you find out its not really your style, a few mistakes but you've covered yourself with cutaways...

Flipside: You learn wether or not you will ever do this in the future from your own experience, you will have a polished piece of work.... These things are usually boring to begin without so a little creative focus pulling, camera movement etc will go along way in getting you their business in the future.

You could take the easy way out and bring the "camcorder" but the question will always be in the back of your mind. Could I have done this with just DSLRs? Personally if I had the extra time for post I would do it as long as you can make it worth it aesthetically...... Let us know how it goes and good luck.

[Peter Mykusz]

Do not use DSLRs for long continuous shooting. It is the wrong tool.

You will have broken audio streams, lots of problems and way too much post work. The most effective way is with a regular video camera like the EX-3 with cards. You can even rent a recorder with SDI inputs to have a redundant backup copy. Audio is important so having a proven workflow using a camcorder is the best failsafe system.

Do a test recording for about 90 minutes and see if your camera overheats. What will you do if the speaker moves around a lot? You won't have a chance to go to the second camera so play it safe and use a regular video camera.

[John Wiley]

Originally Posted by Alexandru Cristescu

You could take the easy way out and bring the "camcorder" but the question will always be in the back of your mind. Could I have done this with just DSLRs? Personally if I had the extra time for post I would do it as long as you can make it worth it aesthetically...... Let us know how it goes and good luck.

Saying using a camcorder is the "easy way out" is like saying you should use a herring to chop down a tree because a saw is the easy way out. Why make things harder when there is a better tool for this particular job?

I know that DSLR's give you the ability to do some things that camcorders don't, but how are they an advantage in this specific scenario? What is the benefit of shooting on a DSLR vs a proper camcorder? Just becuase the OP is using proper camcorder's does not mean he can't still get cut-aways and creative shots. In fact he can get many more because he won't have to go running back to his tripod camera every 10 minutes. He can even use a DSLR for those cut-aways so it's an even playing field. The only difference is one method requires a lot more running around, a lot more risk, and a lot more work in post.

I'd much rather ask myself "could I have done this with DSLR's" than "should I have done this with a camcorder."

[Chris Duzynski]

Howdy:

So this is my first posting and what do I do, crab!

I just got into the "7D as a video-cam" mystique a few months back and I gotta say, for all of the peripheral's I've had to hang onto this thing to make it function even remotely like a true HD camcorder, I could have purchased a real HD camcorder that would alleviate 95% of the concerns on a shoot like this; and it'd be hand-holdable (more-or-less).

I agree with some of the previous replies, that I would not touch a project like this with a DSLR. I'm saving my $$ for a small Canon-based HD Camcorder for much of the video work I would do to supplement my still photography income.

I'm excited to be a member of this group moving forward, and hope to learn a lot from participants.

CD