Building my Doc kit

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DevonH

Well-known member
Hey All,
I'm working on my first documentary and am looking for some gear suggestions. I'm also new to filmmaking in general, so I'd appreciate any general resource suggestions, especially when it comes to becoming familiar with all the terminology.

My budget is $10,000 to get started with, this includes the camera, lighting, etc. I do already have sufficient computer hardware and editing software.

My documentary is fairly straightforward, a series of interviews (sit down style, with plenty of setup time, camera on a tripod), and some movement shots of people doing their daily routine. Distribution wise it will be available online, and in some various locations via a projector.

I've seen equipment kits offered online, but it's my experience that those types of options aren't always the most affordable.

Feel free to ask any more specific details as needed.

Thanks!
 
Where to start?

I think the most important premise to start with is that your camera budget is only a small portion of all the stuff you might want to own. Plan on a considerable budget for audio, maybe in equal proportion to your cam. Avoid bargain tripods and heads. Try to buy stuff you can grow with instead of replace later. You will get lots of advice, try to ferret through all of it to figure what is best for you. Now there are some broad strokes to start.

Grant
 
Thanks

Thanks

Thanks Grant,
I've been looking, and BH has some cameras in the 2-5 range that I'm considering, any thoughts on good cameras in that range?

For lighting I'm looking at this kit

For audio the Zoom h4 and a lapel

What would you suggest tripod wise?


I've read through several 100 posts and in the end I think I'll be fine with a lot of the cameras in this range as long as I'm smart overall, and my story is solid. Quality is important to me, but it means nothing if my viewers aren't engaged.
 
Devon,

I am not so familiar with the medium price range cams besides Panny. In the Panny cams, you might look at the HMC80 which is a shoulder mount AVCHD cam that is very sharp, has some great features, but needs light to work well. So if you are shooting in low light it may not be a great choice. A good default cam would be the HMC-150, which is a handycam that has better low light performance, but won't be quite as sharp. Either will produce great images and can be had near or under $3000. They both use standard SDHC cards. With a bit of memory, a few filters, extra battery, you are in around $3500 for the basic cam.

With regards to lighting, if I was doing mainly interviews, I would go with a couple of florescent fixtures and fill in with others as needed. Flos won't help you much at distance, but they can be bulbed for daylight (5200k) or tungsten (3200k) spectrum making them more versatile. The tungsten kit you linked won't play well with daylight light coming in through windows, which can be very limiting. Note you can filter gel the tungsten lights to daylight, but it is very inefficient. Likewise, if a room has ambient tungsten lighting (like ordinary room lamps), and no daylight, then the flos can be made to match with 3200k bulbs. The other problem with tungsten is it makes lots of heat, and needs more power. Your interviewee won't like it as much. Tungsten lighting has a place, but if you are mostly doing interviews, flos have a real advantage in that they are cool, require less power and create the soft flattering light needed for basic interviews. Here is a link to a couple of decent quality (not top o the line cuz you can't afford them) flos from a reputable company. With a couple of good c-stands, 2 sets of bulbs, you'l be in about $1500. You might also consider an on cam LED for a fill light.

http://www.coollights.biz/cl455p-cool-lights-portable-watt-softlight-p-67.html

Figure on about $1000 for a functional tripod and fluid head. There are lots of choices, but a Manfrotto 504 head with the heaviest stix you can afford is a decent start, or rather a good minimum.

For audio, I would start here:

$300 Rode Pin Mic Lavalier with XLR and 1/8 Sennheiser adapters
$250 Rode NTG-2 shotgun
$300 Rode Blimp kit
$499 AT 4053b small condenser
$180 Rycote Baby Ball Gag and somebodies shock mount
$750 Sound Devices MixPreD mixer
$200 Cables and headphones
$600 Sennheiser G3 wireless kit
$175 Aluminum Boompole
$200 Misc Audio

I have you up to about $3500 in audio. This is a very nice kit which is versitile, medium quality and very capable. I am assuming you will record to cam, but you could also add a portable recorder like a Tascam DR-100 for about $300. I would highly recommend you spend time in the Audio section, since audio is a world onto itself.

To get good cases or luggage for this kit is going to be around $1000.

So I have run your budget over by about $500, and there will be other odds and ends, but this is a very solid start and would be very capable of doing what you describe. No doubt, there will be many opinions, but I can guarantee the function of this kit for what you describe.

Grant
 
I know you don't want to hear this, but $10k is not much for putting even a low end kit together. Might I suggest you take a look at purchasing some of your components used. There are plenty of people that thought they wanted to be film makers that are now selling their gear. This would allow you to stretch your dollar farther by purchasing higher end used shotgun mics/tripod fluid head/camera and the like for much less.

Good Luck!

Dave
 
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Thanks for such a detailed response Grant, and a list like that was exactly what I was looking for to ensure I did have all my odds and ends covered. $500 extra isn't a big deal in this case. I've seen the 150 mentioned quite a few times and I think it'll be my cam of choice.

Dave, I wouldn't have a issue purchasing some of my equipment used, suggest some reputable places?
 
Devon,

If you are not in immediate need, Panny has new cams announced for release in the Fall. One will update or replace the HMC150, though it will be a CMOS cam instead of a CCD. Both sensor types have a place. In fact, of the two Panny cams I already mentioned; the HMC80 is CMOS and the HMC150 is CCD.

Dave Jones makes a very valid point with regards to buying used. DVXuser has a very good used section. You get to see how many posts and the actual postings of the lister which can improve your confidence factor. I usually won't buy from anyone with less than 100 posts. Your mileage may vary.

Another cam which you might consider if you were buying used would be a HPX-170. It is much like the HMC-150 except it uses a superior memory card (P2) has a better codec with better color (DVCProHD) and can do some other things more easily like slow or fast motion. I own one of these and it is a very professional cam. Prices will likely fall on all the current PannyCams since they have been out for a few years, and Panny is updating all their handy cams in the fall (except for the HMC-80).

One thing I have learned about the video biz; the cameras come and go in fairly quick cycles and camera lust is always the rage. You will always lose money on cameras, they more or less continue depreciate to zero over time. That is pretty normal for anything electronic. The other hardware portions of your kit like tripods, audio, and lighting will hold its value better (if it is decent gear to begin with) and doesn't change so quickly, so it is a longer term investment.

Any of the cams I have discussed are pretty solid in their own way, each with strengths and weaknesses, but in the larger picture, each would get the job done that you have described.

Grant
 
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