$5,000 to spend...

Hawk Teflon

Hawk Teflon

Veteran
Family member called. He's looking for a solution to record events at church and get them directly to DVD. The less post work, the better. He's a photographer, but they think that since he can take photos, he knows about videos as well. Anyhoo, they have $5,000(ish) to spend and need to get a camera, tripod, computer, etc. I asked if burning a DVD from the exact feed of the camera would be fine. He liked that thought so that he doesn't have to take it home and even open up a NLE. I don't even know what that would be called, though.

This is for a small church where people don't pixel peep, so while quality is nice, most won't be able to tell the difference in a lot of cameras.
 
Is the camera going to be in the same place every time, or do they want mobility? What I see a lot of churches doing these days, particularly ones with limited manpower for production, is going with a PTZ camera (or cameras) that can all be controlled from one controller.

Does the church have a sound system with an audio output they can tap for the recording?
 
Mobility isn't really necessary. It'll just be the angle changing per event.

Yes, they have a sound system already.

I hadn't even thought about the PTZ cameras.
 
If they are a non-profit organization, not sure how they are set up, then they should be able to get some discounts. Have someone make some calls. You might be able to get better quality gear just because of that.
 
Here's a very quick and dirty equipment list for a system like this.

Vaddio WallVIEW 70 $1355 Full Compass
Vaddio Joystick Controller $1560 Full Compass
Vaddio PreVIEW Dual Monitors $1149 Full Compass

Which leaves you almost $1000 to add whatever consumer DVD recorder you like, cabling, something to mount those rack-mount monitors in or on, etc. Honestly, the dual monitor rig may be overkill, but I would suggest one monitor for the camera and one for the DVD recorder (so you can see the on-screen menus and such); there's probably cheaper ways to go, but like I said, it's a quick and dirty list. :)

This is easily expandable down the road by adding more cameras (the controller can do up to 7) and a video switcher.

It is SD only, with no HD upside, but let's be realistic--the delivery method for your average church is not going to change from SD DVD's in the near future. In my experience, the primary audience for this is elderly folks who aren't able to make it to church, and it's very simple to get them set up with a cheap DVD player to watch the Sunday service if they don't have one already.

(Also, while I have no problems with Full Compass, I would encourage your family member to talk to a local dealer, if there is one. Sometimes paying a little extra is worth it in local support if something goes wrong.)
 
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