A camera setup for 'beginner's to get reasonable footage with 'ok' sound?

M

Mavoz

Well-known member
Firstly I apologise for asking another 'what camera' question in this section....certainly using up my years worth of 'new thread' quota in a hurry! It is a different camera we seek...

I have some friends who work with an Overseas Aid and Development program who are travelling soon to visit a range of projects in Asia and Africa...refugee camps....development projects etc. Whilst there they'd like to get some footage that could be used for future promotional work...they recognise this won't be super professional...but just want to get the best footage they can...

At the moment they are just planning on using their iPhones...I've explained it may be worth investing a little in a dedicated camera that will give them slightly better sound and picture quality.

But what do you think? What would you advise?

A.) Shoot with iPhones?

B.) Buy a dedicated camcorder/camera that offers good auto focus, can run in full auto. They would prefer not to use a tripod because they need to be nimble and fast...so maybe something with Image Stabilisation would help.

The camera needs to be as simple as possible...suitable for inexperienced users..probably something with a built in zoom lens...lightweight.....and just full auto everything!

(They are open to the possibility of bolting on a mic like a Rode Video Mic Pro....)

Do any cameras come to mind? Or do they just go iPhone? Or something radical like the Dji Osmo?

What would you advise them? Would really value your thoughts. Thanks.
 
Sounds like this could be the trip of a lifetime. IPhones great photos and videos with excellent stabilization and they do some magic in low light. But. Any reasonable compact travelcam will be far better. They're going to be really grateful for some zoom range. Travelcams all have an idiot setting. Downside is, they often don't have mic inputs and Rode Videomics are not great for compact travel and fast setups anyway. My recommendation is go dual sound where it matters. Consider a Rode smartlav that plugs into an iPhone, or maybe even a Zoom H1. For camera, if you can hold off long enough, I'd go Panasonic Lumix TZ/ZS100, if not, an earlier model.
 
Thanks Rainer...that Rode smartlav mic is a great suggestion....actually applies to my other question in the other thread for student use here too...thanks so much!
 
If they're going to use phones, tell them to shoot video horizontally, and look on Amazon/etc for some sort of clip-on stabilizer, something that gives you a handle to hold the camera with.
 
Use a combination of phones and a consumer camcorder. With every staff-person having a phone, you can get multi-cam going with maybe one or two phones recording. If they can't hold them, stick them on a helmet or headband on their heads so they don't have to think about it. Supplement that with the camcorder. Get one or more Zoom H1/H4 recorders. Put one on a pole or clip them on the clothes of the people talking

If you don't have phones, you can buy bricked (meaning they won't act as phones, but are otherwise perfectly ok including wifi) Galaxy S5s for $50. If everyone had one of those, you can shoot 4k. Bonus - the Galaxy S5s are waterproof. The S4 and S6 are not.
 
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The Sony RX10 III was released today. Awesome sensor, nice lens (though a bit slow, don't expect super-shallow DoF), and it does have both mic and headphones connectors. Plus it has slog2 and the option to go either 4K or very high fps.
 
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