Afghan bound and need film advice...

[jasonhale]

I'm a soldier in the military and will be heading over to Afghanistan in a few months. I'd like to record our deployment on video and want it to be as professional as possible, includeing good sound when I do interviews. But I also need a camera that can take a rough year of handleing, and have lots of memory and battery life, as I may be in some conditions that I won't have a computer to download to or a place to charge batteries. And I'm hoping to get all the equipment I need for around $5,000. Not sure if it's even possible, but I was told this is the best place to seek film advice..... any and all suggestions are appreciated.

jason

 

[timbook2]

I would consider going with a tape based system unless you want to spend a lot in memory cards. Something like the DVX 100 ? Get some protection like portabrace against desert dust! A good microphone to attach to the camera and use for handheld. Of course you could go with a Lumix Gh1 and a field recorder for sound but that depends on your knowledge with cameras....

 

[Richard Crowley]

I would consider going with a tape based system....

There are pros and cons. If you are going to be out in the field, note that the dust is a major killer of tape heads and a major factor in wearing out the mechanical parts. Memory cards are getting cheaper every day and they are far more tolerant of harsh conditions than any kind of tape. Not to mention that tape-based camcorders are mostly on their way out the door. The formats are headed for the dustbin (pun partially intended). Note that there are devices out there the size of a small paperback book which will offload your memory chips into an internal hard drive without the need to wrangle a computer of any kind. And you can fit several dozen SDHC cards in the same physical space as one tape cassette with a space/record-time advantage of 50x or more!

I just got a Sony HXRMC50U and I really like it. Everyone who uses it just loves it. It produces great pictures and sound and is very simple to use. Almost "point-n-shoot" but with the option of many manual settings if you need them. I also have two HXRNX5U cameras and a PMW-EX1, but I wouldn't recommend any of them for your application. There is a nearly-identical consumer version of the HXRMC50U for less $$$.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-broadcastcameras/cat-nxcam/product-HXRMC50U/