List of the Best Everything

Joseph Stunzi

Joseph Stunzi

Veteran
Dear DVXUser Community,
I know many new users come in here and start threads about the best this and that. I am glad that we as a community can help them :). But I am getting tired of reading the new posts everyday and seeing floods of questions on "What's the best hard drive" "Whats the best lav mic" etc.....


So I am proposing a solution. I am going to create a master list of the BESTS of EVERYTHING:huh:. Hopefully a moderator will promote this to a Sticky in the end.

So here's the deal, tell me the best of everything listed below. Each item is assigned a letter and if something is forgotten, then PM me and I'll add it on to this initial post and in a new post within this tread. I think this is a good tool for newer users. It will provide them with links, etc. to various equipment sites and the such. It will also list prices and the overall consensus (or majority opinion) of what the BESTS are. I am planning on listing 3 for each of the following so give me your opinion. If you agree with someone.... say so!

BESTS of EVERYTHING
A. Camera (Low-cost)
B. Camera (HD Mid-price range)
C. Camera (High end price range)
D. Lav Mic
E. Boom Mic (High end)
F. Boom Mic (Low end)
G. Boom Pole
H. External Hard Drive
I. HD On-rig Monitor
J. SD On-rig Monitor
K. Wireless Mic System
L. Sound recording system (i.e. SD402)
M. Light weight tripod
N. Tripod (Mid-price)
O. Tripod (High-end)
P. Fluid Head
Q. Crane System
R. Steadicam System (light weights)
S. Steadicam System (heavy weights)
T. Light Starter Kit

*** Please add on if I missed something big ***

~JS
 
Well "BEST" kinda speaks for itself, doesn't it. I interpret high end to mean the best of it's kind. Low end, could mean either bang for the buck, or best performing of the median priced equipment. As for weight... are we talking portability?
 
You also have to take into account everybody's different taste and opinions.

Best regards,

Andrew Hoffman
 
I don't think that "BEST" speaks for itself at all.

Tell me what the "best" chardonnay is? Or the "best" automobile?

and what is meant by the best "Camera (High end price range)?"

Would that be the Red? Or something priced even higher?
 
I always liked the idea of having a "best list" - but the above mentioned problems make it very hard to create one.
I´d rather suggest sth like Wikipedia for dvxusers (or everyone...) where the pros and cons of a poduct (eg HVX or ME66) are listed and reviewed and corrected by the community...
But I have no clue how to do this in a proper way, taking eg the old "HVX noise" (non)issue there simply are a lot of points to consider.
Also, anything less than a broad explanation why sth supposedly is "the best" of its kind wouldn´t satisfy my needs: I would never buy a FX1/HVX/HD100 simply because some list says so...
 
Unquantifiable.

You know what I did?

Looked at what my needs were. Lokked for other who had similar needs.

Saw what they were using.

Researched the producr.

bought it.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
 
and a lot of people are just lazy and don't want to research the information themselves. i'm not trying to be a jerk about it or anything, but i generally research the hell out of something before i even think about buying it. i try to see it in person, touch it, see how it works, etc..(i understand it may be difficult for some to get their hands on certain products) i think most people are just looking for the easy way out. but then again, people asking, "so i've looked into "gadget x" and i like the fact that it has "feature y". but i don't like "feature z". does anyone have any input?". questions such as that are definately cool, its getting feedback, with educated information. but thats my feel on the subject.
 
Well do we want to start a wikipedia for film products?

I would be willing to host if people are willing to contribute to it then!

I also think it would be great for people to then link to their movie and their production costs and equipment lists so that people can get an idea of what others combined for a perfect solution




for those still interested in the best list lets say....
"high end" is about $50000
"Low end" is below $2000
"Mid end" is in between $2000 and $5000
 
Everyone seems cautious about making recommendations but here goes based upon HVX 200 usage.

1. Best triopod: Sachtler DV6 w Miller Solo legs.
2. PC editing system. Edius Broadcast
3. Lights. ARRI
4. Mics...both shotgun and wireless. Sennheiser (probably low end of good)
 
I don't know, I think this whole best of list just isn't going to work. There are categories that you CAN assign a general favorite but then there are just so many others where you're just asking for trouble. For example the midrange cameras; just how many HVX/DVX vs. A1 thread have we seen lately? And then it gets ugly when people gets defensive about "their" gear. A wikipedia style gear guide sounds interesting but that would mean before any piece of gear can be posted there has to be comparisons between products to show why it's "the best." And that's pretty much impossible to do without someone calling your claim bias.
 
Well, I finally read this thread in the audio section (the 2nd post is the important part). I found it really useful to see proposed setups, including what/who each is for, and how much the gear would cost.

I think something like that would be a great format to use for this Best of Everything thread.

[edit] I do agree that the cameras are too subjective, and have too many trade offs to consider, for them to be included in the list. If budget is the deciding factor, then they could be grouped like that at least, to point someone in the general direction of what they can afford. But beyond that you really have to read in depth reviews.
 
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BESTS of EVERYTHING
A. Camera (Low-cost) Sony DCR VX1000
B. Camera (HD Mid-price range) Panasonic HVX200
C. Camera (High end price range) Arriflex 765 65mm Film Camera
D. Lav Mic
E. Boom Mic (High end) Sennheiser MKH416 or High end Schoeps
F. Boom Mic (Low end) AKG Blue Line CK93
G. Boom Pole K-Tek
H. External Hard Drive Western Digital Book Drives
I. HD On-rig Monitor
J. SD On-rig Monitor
K. Wireless Mic System
L. Sound recording system (i.e. SD402) SD402
M. Light weight tripod Slik 504QF II
N. Tripod (Mid-price) Manfrotto w/ 503 head
O. Tripod (High-end)
P. Fluid Head Manfrotto 519 head
Q. Crane System
R. Steadicam System (light weights)
S. Steadicam System (heavy weights)
T. Light Starter Kit 2 FL-110 Flolights w/Daylight bulbs and Kino Flo gel kit and Lowel Pro Light for back light (all with Impact heavy duty stands)
 
What is good for me might not be got for you... We are all different, god created us each different, but we are all winners. We all got to the egg first ...:beer:
 
DavidChia said:
What is good for me might not be got for you... We are all different, god created us each different, but we are all winners. We all got to the egg first ...:beer:
Click to expand...

I agree. Most of these opinions on gear should be used as starting points for more research on specific products and not as factual "best" equipment. I just listed some of the equipment I've used and have experience with along with some guestimations of other possibly good gear.
 
Exactly,

I don't agree with anything John said above but it obviously works for him so great! Who are we to dictate the best option for anybody?
 
jstunzi has a great idea...I'm sure many of us have thought of it before...without a doubt it's a great idea, but the problem is how would it be implemented on this website/forum?

The issue isn't that there is no "best external hard drive", the issue is that this site has no way to easily organize all of our opinions about such a wide array of equipment.

This site is VERY VERY cumbersome in navigating thru past posts...the search ability on this site is a complete joke...I use the Google toolbar and I tell Google to search for, say, "bogen head" **only** on the www.dvxuser.com website...google's engine is much better than what this site (or most other sites) has to offer.

I have been fortunate lately...I've had probably a hundred hours to spend over the past few weeks researching this stuff...much of it on this site...there is SO much repetitive info, it is nauseating. There has got to be a better alternateive to very similar posts being posted every few days or weeks.

jstunzi isn't saying that it's easy to define "best" or even that their *is* a best...just that it would be great if there was a quicker way to research some of this information. Instead of saying "best", how about popular or most common...

A great way to gather this information would be with an online database that would allow each of us to add, update, categorize, make notes, rate equipment, etc....something like this in PHP & MySQL wouldn't be too hard, but I like most people don't have the time to do it.

Besides, it wouldn't be part of this "forum format", and I'm sure a lot of people would cry about that too.

We are human...we have the need to categorize and organize.

-shannon
 
All in my opinion of course.


BESTS of EVERYTHING
A. Camera (Super Low-cost) Canon HV20
AA. Camera (HD Low-cost) Canon XH-A1
B. Camera (HD Mid-price range) Sony XDCAM
C. Camera (High end price range) RED ONE
D. Lav Mic Countryman
E. Boom Mic (High end) Schoeps, Sennheiser, Sanken
F. Boom Mic (Low end) Audio Technica 4043a
G. Boom Pole K-tek
H. External Hard Drive
I. HD On-rig Monitor Future 1080p 7" Sanyo screen with transreflective mod
J. SD On-rig Monitor
K. Wireless Mic System Lectrosonics UCR411A and SMQ
L. Sound recording system (i.e. SD402) Sound Devices 744T
M. Light weight tripod Gitzo GT1540/GT2180
N. Tripod (Mid-price) Vinten Vision 3
O. Tripod (High-end for 2-20 lbs weight range) OConnor 515/DV, Sachtler Video 15 SB
P. Fluid Head OConnor
Q. Crane System Jimmy Jib Triangle
R. Steadicam System (light weights) Steadicam Flyer
S. Steadicam System (heavy weights) GPI-PRO or Steadicam Ultra 2
T. Light Starter Kit
 
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