Help on choosing a camera to film backpacking Europe.

T

TurkeyJerkey

New member
I hope this is the right place to post this. If not, please direct me where to post it. I'm a 22 year old university student who enjoys making short films for fun. Last year some friends and I took a spring break trip around the US and won the film festival at my University with the video we made from it. Basically, I want to do the same thing, this time while backpacking Europe, and could use some advice on which camera to get.

Let me start off by saying that I know hauling a camera around Europe is not the recommended way to backpack it. I'm aware of this, but the main reason we are going is basically to film it. With that being said, what would you recommend I take?

My budget is around $1500. In the past, I have used the Sony HDR-SR11 and i've also used the Sony FX7. Would bringing something like the FX7 be too large to haul around Europe? Basically I am looking for any advice whatsoever on helping me decide.
 
The Sony FX7 is heavy and pretty large for backpacking. In addition to the camera, you'd need a few batteries, charger, tapes, etc totalling over ten-pounds (maybe more.) If you decide to go with something as large as the FX7, I'd instead suggest the Sony FX1000 which is somewhat newer and quite a bit better in low-light. But still as large and heavy.

Small cameras are often a trade-off between image quality, size/weight, useability, and cost. One of the cameras I use for personal videos is a Canon HF S21. I can't speak to its durability or suitabilty for jamming into a backback. But I can tell you that it is small, lightweight, and produces great images for a camera in the US$1000 price range. Even on the highest-quality setting, you can shoot almost 6-hours of footage on the 64gb memory built-into the camera. There are also two SD card memory card slots, so with 64gb cards, so you could theoretically have 18-hours of footage IN the camera. It also shoot pretty good stills (rated at 8mp), and even has a rudimentary edit/play-list function, so you could make a cuts-only edited video while on the road.

When I'm traveling light, I can fit the camera, charger, cables, wide-angle adapter, and several batteries into a small nylon shaving kit carry-case. I have used it on week-long camping trips and it has provided some very good footage.

Jim
 
It's not clear to me if you are traveling alone or in a group but have you thought about using a couple of GoPro Hero2 cameras?
There are endless possibilities and while you give up some features of full size candidates you can't beat the price, size, and functionality.
Check out some of the vids on their website . . . You'll see what I mean.

Have a great trip--and let us see some of your shots when you get back.
 
I do a lot of travelling, and every pound counts. You're going to want the lightest setup you can find. I really like the go-pro idea, +1 on that. Other than that I would go with a DSLR like a T3i or a GH1 or GH2. Get a decent zoom lens and a fast prime lens and you should be good to go. Oh, and a Zoom H1 for audio.
 
Check this out, good infos in both video reports about light weight documentary abroad:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...stions&p=1986172812&viewfull=1#post1986172812


At the end, are you travelling mainly for your video shots or vice versa, this helps maybe aswell to decide which cam to use. You will probably need more time with a DSLR in comparison to a consumer camcorder and more equipment. For backpacking the weight is a big issue. Alone without any camera equipment you are carrying quiete often a lot of stuff around....was travelling a lot around the world bymyself with a backpack, but without doing video just with a photo camera. But the DSLR has the advantage, and I think this is interesting for travelling, to do video + doing photos. GoPro is maybe a good idea aswell for video.....I dont own one but hear good things about it, even it has its limits.
 
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