Affordable, Quality Camera for Talking Head Videos

[Natan Pakman]

I'm wondering what you guys would recommend for shooting simple talking head medium shots for a YouTube channel. The subject will be lit with 3-point lighting and the background will be quite dark and mostly not visible. Simple enough, but I'm looking for something with a minimum of quality.

Between all the DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, and digital video cameras, what would be some simple quality products?

[David Stoneburner]

I would suggest looking at the cameras available on BH or another site like that. Take your budget, the type of audio input you need (unless recording audio separately), and what format you want to edit. Look at what is available and come up with a few possibilities. Then I usually take that model number and look it up on Vimeo & YouTube to see some examples and usually reviews.

[Natan Pakman]

Thanks David. I will be recording audio separately into a Zoom H4, so at least that won't be an issue. My only concern is that the dark background might be noisy, but we can most likely fix that in post if necessary.

[Noa Put]

If you are recording your audio separately then any camera will do for your purpose since it's a controlled shoot. Even small camera's like a panasonic gx80.

[Seth Bloombaum]

Budget?

And, must that budget also cover sound?

[Natan Pakman]

The max budget is $550 (including a lens). I already have the audio/lighting equipment. The only real requirement is for the camera to have an LCD that pops out and rotates 180 degrees (like on a Canon 60D) for the subject to be able to see a preview of himself on it (although this could be accomplished with a laptop/external monitor depending on the camera).

[Bryan Cantwell]

You can get the Panasonic G7 with kit lens for $597 as long as you catch the sale price, which is currently on now.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Natan Pakman

The max budget is $550 (including a lens). I already have the audio/lighting equipment. The only real requirement is for the camera to have an LCD that pops out and rotates 180 degrees (like on a Canon 60D) for the subject to be able to see a preview of himself on it (although this could be accomplished with a laptop/external monitor depending on the camera).

I don't know what other dslrs have that flipout lcd like canon. Why don't you buy a pre owned 60 or 70d on ebay? Well lit subject will look good on most any camera.

I would think most important thing for vlogging would be a that the camera supports a streamlined method of production. I'd suggest getting input from vloggers since the process is more important than the technical specs on a camera.

[Natan Pakman]

Thanks for the recommendations! I definitely think the G7 (it says it has a swivel LCD in the specs) or Canon 60 or 70D will work great. I'm heading that route.