Decent video camera

[puredrifting]

Now folks are getting a bit carried away, which is why I asked this on an audio list rather than a camera list. Forget anything that is much over $1,000. We have a T2i and a 5D mark II and both have MagicLantern installed. I agree that I like them a lot BUT they have time limits that make them unusable for what I set out in the original post. I am not doing a bunch of production shooting and the "proffesionalness" of the camera is not really an issue. This stuff is destined to be streamed off a web site so super high resolution is not a must.

The Sony A6400 seems the best fit at the moment. The other Sony at a much lower price would work except it has the time limit, so no deal.
The A6400 makes more sense since it would replace my still camera, which gets a bunch more use, and offer a video camera with out the time limit.

Other than the odd personal project the interview/ press announcement shoots are lockdown shots that are probably going to end up at 720 MP4's streamed from a server.
If I were a shooter then big old video cameras are very sexy. I actually many years ago had a monster Sony camera with a 12" or so long Fujitron lense. It fed a portable 3/4" recorder. Bloody sexy to haul that monster around, but that is not what I need now and I don't think my back could take it these days.

Anyway thanks all.

Scott:

For your needs, it comes down to color science and AF tech probably. The Sony has great AF but the color science sucks.
Panasonic, Canon or Fuji are all going to have much better colors and skin tones than the Sony so think about that too.

 

[Bruce Watson]

...occasionally I get asked to film a talk or an interview. I figure other sound folks might have similar experiences and might have some good recommendations.
...
We were figuring something in the couple of hundred dollar range should be doable.

So what is a sound person recommended video camera?

For that duty you don't need anything more than a Canon Vixia HF R800. I've been using a pair of Vixias (ancestors of these) for years for just this kind of thing. One is usually my full view "lock down" camera, and one is my mid-view (waist to head or closer, depending) camera that I usually operate. I use the two cameras because it makes editing much easier, and the resulting videos much less boring. People don't really want to stare at the same POV for very long, certainly not for the entire length of an interview. Just sayin'.

Just don't think you'll get an award for picture quality with these things, and don't expect much dynamic range, shadow detail, etc. They aren't made for that. But they will certainly suffice for the duty you propose, without giving you any unreasonable recording time limits.

A tip if you decide to go this way -- get yourself a decently large gray card, and pull a custom white balance for both cameras once they are in place but before you start filming. Life is easier in the NLE if the cameras match. Even under grubby green fluorescents my cameras do a surprisingly good custom white balance and give good skin tone. Sufficiently good that I usually don't bother with any more corrections in NLE, which is important in a low budget scenario. Just sayin'.

 

[Throwback]

The cheapest camera that produces a good image with no recording limit is the Panasonic GX85 that currently sells for $500 with two kit lenses. But keep in mind that ONLY the 4K profiles have unlimited shooting time. ( 4K also produces the best IQ from this camera too ) The AF is not great, but it's usable with some care.

I own one as my compact travel camera, and a year ago I was spontaneously recruited to shoot an $800 video while I was shooting BTS photos for a friend at a live event. Footage was great and I was a little surprised at how good it was. Not far off the footage my GH5 produces. There's no mic or headphone jacks, but I have no problems syncing to external recorders.

I agree with this: I find the GX80/85 surprisingly good and the price new or used is modest these days.

Cheers,

Roland

 

[Noiz2]

The cheapest camera that produces a good image with no recording limit is the Panasonic GX85 that currently sells for $500 with two kit lenses. But keep in mind that ONLY the 4K profiles have unlimited shooting time. ( 4K also produces the best IQ from this camera too ) The AF is not great, but it's usable with some care.

I own one as my compact travel camera, and a year ago I was spontaneously recruited to shoot an $800 video while I was shooting BTS photos for a friend at a live event. Footage was great and I was a little surprised at how good it was. Not far off the footage my GH5 produces. There's no mic or headphone jacks, but I have no problems syncing to external recorders.

Except that the specs from that link have this

Recording Limit Up to 29 Minutes, 59 Seconds

otherwise great deal

 

[NorBro]

The ones overseas don't have it...the ones in the USA do. Or vice-versa, one of them.

(I found this out by buying one on eBay once, which was from somewhere in the world.)

 

[TheDingo]

Except that the specs from that link have this

The specs are wrong. I was very confused when I bought this camera, but people online kept saying it has no recording limit. When I finally had it in my hands I did a bunch of tests and found that the 4K 100 Mbit MP4 recording had no limit. The $800 job I mentioned in my previous post was a live event that lasted 2 hours. I shot for 90 minutes straight until the battery died. Popped in another battery and kept shooting for another hour. Two 4K clips for a 2.5 hour performance. ( Panasonic batteries last longer than the cheapie generic batteries do )