What Equipment Should i Buy

B

Brandon Hunt

Member
Hey this is my first post So i may sound Dumb and am entirely ok with that

In the past 4 years I have been doing FilmMaking with a DVX but always in conjunction with another organizations so now I am looking at breaking out. Because of the limitations of Missions Budgets and Such the equipment was minimal which was great but now that i want to start making my own independent films and freelance work i would like to start acquiring my own equipment. I have no experience in buying most of this stuff But maninly i would like addvice in what is in the essentials. Below is a list of things i would like and don't know things like brands and what not:

2x DVX 100b
2x 35mm adaptor
35mm lenses (what should i get)
Tripod
and a Dolly thinking about making this one and then making a skate dolly
Lighting of some sort (if needed)
Mikes (my freelance is going to be mainly weddings so i need at-least a lapel i would like a boom and shotgun mike but like before i don't know what brand and such would be best


That is all. I would accept all advice on starting up as you can give me
 
What i am doing is wanting to send around 20,000 over the next year or 2. getting equipment slowly and building it up. Interspersing DIY equipment like the dolly and such The idea was to get a DVX or what looks like now waiting on a HMC 150 Just to be able to do DV and HDV wit a tripod and then getting the 35mm adaptor and then working on the dollies and such and then getting the next HMC 150..

ultamitly this is just the plan i would rent but there is no place to rent within 6 hours o where i live. This makes that hard. Driving 12 hours just to rent a camera and tripod.
 
on the mic front, I would recomend picking up the Sennheisser k6 power module with the me66 and me67 shotguns along with a nice rycote softie. Its currently what im rocking and I love it. Also check indifocus for a good deal on rails, mattebox, follow foucs, they even have a dolly in the works.
 
Well I have thought about the HVX but I Guess wanting to be able to start sooner has made me want to go with the HMC 150 Maybe this is a bad decision. What can the HVS do that the HMC won't I guess would be my question.

20,000 is the high in after all the equipment and even a mac pro for editing is bought.

So think of it as 10 to 15 thousand in all actuality. I just put 20 because that was my whole budget. and a edit suit has to be included
 
Brandon Hunt said:
Well I have thought about the HVX but I Guess wanting to be able to start sooner has made me want to go with the HMC 150 Maybe this is a bad decision. What can the HVS do that the HMC won't I guess would be my question.

20,000 is the high in after all the equipment and even a mac pro for editing is bought.

So think of it as 10 to 15 thousand in all actuality. I just put 20 because that was my whole budget. and a edit suit has to be included
Click to expand...
Gotcha. I don't know much about the HMC 150, so I can't comment on that. The DVX is a solid camcorder still. You may want to look used, because in my opinion, you are getting ripped off a bit on the new purchase, consider what else is available. ($2500-$250 rebate from B&H)
 
So far I haven't read anything that suggests that the HMC will be a better buy than the HVX, especially with the HVX-200a coming out. Unless it is completely out of your budget for an HVX of course. Other than that, your're shooting on SD cards instead of P2, I've read the color depth isn't as nice as the HVX, no adjustable frame rates, and no DVCPRO-HD, that means you're capturing footage at what I believe was 13mbps compared to 100mbps on the HVX.

The DVX is a solid camera though, I'd stick with that, unless you really need to go to HD, in which case, I'd save for the HVX.
 
zergtherobot said:
on the mic front, I would recomend picking up the Sennheisser k6 power module with the me66 and me67 shotguns along with a nice rycote softie. Its currently what im rocking and I love it. Also check indifocus for a good deal on rails, mattebox, follow foucs, they even have a dolly in the works.
Click to expand...

What would you suggest in terms of Lepel I am a sennheisser fan but that means nothing for the 2 feture lenght films we used a lepel that was great but I can't remember what it actualy was .
the lepel would be for weddings to stick on the groom to pick up the audo of the bride gromm and pastor/preist
 
I guess i would have to ask where would i go about looking for a DVX or even an HVX used. Looked ebay and not much for HVX right now is there better places to go. Right now i live in a town with the population of 100,000 and no camera shop.(that sucks) I am looking at moving in a year or so but now i would like to start gathering my equipment and get started.

Also my big question was what to get in the form of 35 mm adaptors, 35mm lenses and rails and such.

I have never used these but am more than willing to learn. I would like the depth of fieild you recieve using a 35mm lense.
 
Check the Marketplace section, there are always at least 5 or so HVX's and DVX's for sale on here, as far as 35mm adapters and such, check the 35mm Adapter section...
 
Okay, I just can't stand back. If you are shooting weddings as your income producer, you will not need a 35mm adapter. You need to be able to move quickly, and if it were my wedding, I would prefer all the people in frame to be in focus,thus greater depth of field, so I could recognize them. The DVX series is better in low light than the HVX, although the HVXa is better than the original. The last wedding I shot, I would not have had much of an image if I had used my HVX. As has been said here and on any other forum, make your gear pay for itself. Were it me, I would buy one DVX a or b, a good tripod, some batteries, an on board monitor, and a computer with editing software. And then learn it. When you get your first wedding, find some other camera (possibly a friend who can operate it), and learn your craft, and make some money. I speak from experience when I say the camera will not make you. I have two 16mm fllm cameras and a dvx and an Hvx, but it's really hard to operate them at the same time, and they cost a hell of a lot to keep. They do make me money, but when I'm shooting film, the video cameras sit, and visa versa. Use the tools you have access to, buy only what will make you money, and research, research, research. I don't post much here, but I learn something new here everyday. Just my two cents, and I hope that I don't come off too harsh. Define your goals - save your money. Matt.
 
Thanks for the post Matt. I agree with what you said if all i was wanting to do was shoot weddings Right now i have 3 people that are getting together what i was hoping for was to get ideas on what others had had success with and what worked the best. My goal is not to just shoot wedding videos i have written several short films and feture films along with am working on ideas and porductions notes for a few Doumentaries. The 35 mm adaptor and dolly and such are for thosse.

Along the lines of learning. I have many hours of experiance in both shooting and editing. With the 2 featurs and 2 shorts that i have made. This is not a refute of what you said I am just saying i am no newb just new to purchusing my own equiptment I have used equiptment that either a school or orgonisations has owned. I was trying to look ahead. To make those Goals educatedly.

What you wrote about the HVX being not as good in low light situations helps tremendously. these are what i was wanting to know.
 
another new user!

another new user!

I thought that I would jump on this thread because I have similar questions. Am an old guy who has just bought his first serious camcorder - a DVX100B. Decided not to go HD right away because I am mostly interested in shooting interviews on location with no control over lighting and noise. That said, I need help on choosing a hand-held mic and a camera-mounted lamp of some sort. A Sennheisser ew135PG2 looks like the kind of mic that I want - a bit more expensive at $800+ than I was picturing but is it still a good buy? On the lamp I have no idea. I have been interviewed on local news broadcasts by pros with big cameras that have a little lamp on them but I don't know what they use. I have read somewhere (maybe this thread) that something like 35w is generally enough but are there lamps that can just iluminate 2 or at most 3 people at say up to 10 or 15 feet without lighting up everyone-else in the room?
 
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