NEED HELP ON TREKKING DOC! With EQUIP

N

Nathaniel McInnes

Active member
Hey guys!

Im going to be going over to Cambodia and will be on a 5 week trek through Cambodia into Thailand.

Im going on an exhibition and have been asked to film the entire trip for a promo video and produce a advertisement/reel at the end of it.

Now i need HD, but light, so not should mount. Something that is also sturdy in terms of can cope with all the stress of trekking and camping out in the jungle. Also the entire equipment needs to be light.

Now how would i go around recharging up batteries in a type of location like this?
I imagine i would need say solar panel rechargers of some-kind.

Now i need help in:

Picking a camera
How to recharge
(under £3500 inc VAT or $7,000)

Cheers,
Nathaniel
 
I don't think solar will cut it. I am not clear if you are going to be in (or near) vehicles at any point. If so, you can rapid charge many batteries at once. If you are literally going to be in the jungle for that long without any access to autos, generators, or electricity, you might to figure out how much total footage you would like to shoot and then calculate your battery needs based on that.

For a camera, I like the Canon A1. There are some interesting 'tapeless' cameras out there, but it will increase the amount of gear you need to bring vs. shooting on HDV tapes.

The A1 is about $3,400 (on sale). You will have enough money for a nice Kata backpack-style case, a light tripod (or monopod), a good microphone,an on-camera light, filters, and lots of extra batteries.
 
I suggest, buy a TON of batteries, u can always sell em back to friends later when ur back..

Bring say 50hours of DV Tapes.

And ziplock all of them into smaller packs inside ur backpack. =)
 
Hey guys,

Remember in my backpack, im gunna need to fit these items into it.

Basic Clothes,
Basic Food,
Tent,
Sleeping bag,
Camera,
Battery,
Tapes,
Other various things when you camp/trek.

Regarding the Canon A1, Is it sterdy in the way that it has a metal body. The reason why i ask this is that i have an XM2 and it is at tall not sterdy, and it has a plastic body. I feel like i need the body strength of something like the PD150/PD170.

Cheers,
Nathaniel
 
The weight difference between XH-A1 and HV20 (almost the same picture quality) is maybe 2 kg, not much, if the "pro look" of the later does not matter (permits etc). How about taking two HV20? Two camerapersons, a backup cam?

A 5 week trek could be only jungle (doubt it) or (almost) daily visits to villages with electricity. Find out what it is going to be, if there are villages 2-3 big batteries are enough, if not, you need maybe 10 (for 30 tapes). Fooling around with solar is trouble. When you stop it will be dark...

I shot a documentary in Tibet, 5 weeks without recharching, 8 tapes with 2 big batteries. The other cameraman did the same, and it was good enough for NG. 5 week trek does not mean 50 tapes, after a while you get into a routine, maybe 30 minutes per day...

Many 3:rd world places are more "civiliced" than we realize, having an AC outlet in the guesthouse is no great surprice anymore.
 
We will be staying in youth hostels say once a night every two weeks (so i can charge the batteries there). But the rest will be out in the jungle.

Im thinking of say about 5 big batteries. and 5 small ones + a box of 30 tapes.

Cheers,
Nathaniel
 
I know someone who went to Cambodia for extra footage that he needed for his documentary so maybe I can ask him to give some advice.

Anyway, have you ever thought about getting yourself a battery belt?
 
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