need a reccomendation...

W

Wrathborne

Active member
I'll keep it simple, trying to get back into filmaking after burning out pretty bad over a year ago.

I've never had a good camera and would like to get one, but I'm back to square one here and need something that isnt fancy, but gets the job done. I need good video quality, thats something I've never had in my shorts because cheap cameras are pretty much all of what I've had at my disposal.

I've heard nothing but good stuff about canon and see that as the route I'd like to take. Had many friends swear by it.

I'm a pretty broke guy, I've always been aware how important the quality of your footage is, but have stubbornly tried to 'low tech' my way through it. Pretty much tried to see what I could achieve with crappy camera, the answer to that is very little.

So being someone who doesn't have a lot of money I was after some recommendations from real filmakers.

Your answers are very much desired and appreciated.
 
You might want to mention your budget for a camera. What does "isn't fancy" mean? What are you going to use the camera for?
 
I think my budget is going to be about $250-$300. I'm looking at making some horror shorts as they're my specialty.

thanks for the response
 
To be honest, that's a pretty low budget to spend on the most important part of the filmmaking process. I think you might be able to snag a Canon HV20 off eBay for a price in that range. The HV20, which isn't a prosumer cam by any means, definitely is capable of holding up its end in the resolution department since it is HD-capable. But I don't think it can shoot at 24p, and I don't exactly know how much control you have over the image with a cam like that.
 
so what would you recommend?

EDIT: I'm aware I'm going to have to spend more in order to get more, but I want something that's moderately professional, good image quality, can do 24FPS, and isnt going to break the bank. I think like $500 or so is my limit.

I do wish I had a good $800 to spend on getting something good but I just dont have much in the way of money.O.o
 
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Wrathborne said:
so what would you recommend?

EDIT: I'm aware I'm going to have to spend more in order to get more, but I want something that's moderately professional, good image quality, can do 24FPS, and isnt going to break the bank. I think like $500 or so is my limit.

I do wish I had a good $800 to spend on getting something good but I just dont have much in the way of money.O.o
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I don't know what to tell you. You're not going to find a camera that's moderately professional with good image quality and 24p capability for $500. The lowest end of professionalism as far as Canon goes is the Canon HV30, and that's about $1000 new - you might be able to snag one in good condition for less on Ebay.
 
The HV20 is capable of 24fps in a 60i wrapper. You need to remove pulldown. It's not an unusual situation and the software is free. Canon calls it something like 24Pfs. The sensor itsel is a full 1920 progressive chip.

The strength of the HV20 is the color is good and the resolution is as good as an XH-A1 or HMC150 in good light. It's also light weight and inconspicuous for guerilla filming.

The weakness is the lack of manual controls. Gain will kick in automatically and add grain in low light if you don't do the cell phone trick and lock the gain. Also as a CMOS camera it does have some rolling shutter skew on fast movements, but even the Red One is a CMOS camera.

There is a ton of information and work arounds about that series of cameras a hv20.com to get prosummer type footage out of that inexpensive little consumer camera.

Samys has HV30s for $450 refurbished.
http://www.samys.com/product_detail.php?item=12056&showAccessories=1#detail

Look around and you may find an HV20 for $350. Like here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-HV20_W0QQ...trkparms=65:12|66:2|39:1|72:1234|293:1|294:50

Or here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-HV20-High...trkparms=65:12|66:2|39:1|72:1234|293:1|294:50
 
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gack. sounds like the bank must be broken.

Well whats a good dependable canon camera that has 24 fps, easy to use, and has good results? O.o
 
Wrathborne said:
gack. sounds like the bank must be broken.

Well whats a good dependable canon camera that has 24 fps, easy to use, and has good results? O.o
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I don't want to sound rude, but honestly I think you're missing the picture here. With camera equipment, you get what you pay for. Quality gear costs money, and there's no way to circumvent that, or else people would have been exploiting it for ages. If you want a camera that has 24p capability, is easy to use, has great footage results, and is professional, be prepared to spend the money.
 
Wrathbone, I would look into joining a video co-op ( there must be something in the Bay area, here in Toronto I know of at least two ) and save your money until you can afford something that you will be happy with.

Apart from having a basic camera to shoot with, sound is also going to be a big issue for anything you shoot, and I don't think your budget would even cover some very basic sound gear. ( Olympus LS-10 recorder would be my absolute minimum, and this is about $300. Sony PCM-D50 recorder is better at $450. Buying a JuicedLink unit with phantom power and a good XLR mic is going to put you well over $500. )
 
For $500 or less, if you want a Canon camera that shoots 24p, your choices basically boil down to something like a used HV20 or HF100.

Easy to use (as in fully automatic point-and-shoot) and gets good results is nonsensical. If you want to shoot great video, it takes genuine effort.
 
thanks for all the advice gents. I guess now my priority is to work on acquiring a large enough budget to accord a good camera. I just though I'd ask the pros if there might be anything around my price range and what not.

appreciate all the feedback.
 
The cheapest really pro quality with XLR, full manual controls and HD video is going to be a used XH-A1 for about $2,000. You'll really need to dig to find one at that price, but they are there.

As everyone has told you though you can get 24p from the HV20 and HF100 for $300-$500 used. You can shoot a real movie with these, it's just harder.
 
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