recommend camera for around-the-world documentary?

G

greyhavens

Member
I have been given a grant to travel the world and make a documentary video. I have done quite a bit of research into what would be the best camera (and microphone) to buy for this journey, but I would love dvxuser input. My camera budget is <$2500. My dilemma is: should I get a prosumer miniDV rig (Panasonic DVX100, Sony PD170) and have to deal with hauling 100+ miniDV tapes across three continents, or go with an HDD camera (Canon HG10, Sony HDR-SR7) and have less quality control but easy digital storage? An external mic jack is a necessity and 24P would be preferable, but at this point I'm open to anything. What camera would you recommend for a non-stop 1-year trip through Scotland, Tunisia, India, and Hong Kong? Thanks everyone.
 
I'd say to look for a used DVX on the forums. Probably between $1500 and $2000 (depending on whats included and if its a dvx100a or dvx100b).

Do you have a laptop you could capture to on the go? or if not spend the remaining money on a firestore?
 
You may think that lugging tapes is a pain, but imagine running out of hard disk space - that would be way more of a pain - plus tapes are cheap, and easy to post, hard disks are not. I would second the DVX, although I havn't tried mine out in particularly harsh environments - I did read somewhere once that the Sony PD170 is less susceptible to moisture damage than the DVX at high altitudes - not sure if you plan to go for some mountaineering on your trip!
 
Look around in the forums or on the net about the doc film maker James Longley. He made the film Iraq in Fragments by himself with a DVX100. The doc was awarded 3 Sundance awards and was nominated for an Academy Oscar award. He filmed over 300 hours of footage. There is a lot of information on the net how he did it, what mic he used and what he did for post production.

Alll the best
 
manymoosh said:
Look around in the forums or on the net about the doc film maker James Longley. He made the film Iraq in Fragments by himself with a DVX100. The doc was awarded 3 Sundance awards and was nominated for an Academy Oscar award. He filmed over 300 hours of footage. There is a lot of information on the net how he did it, what mic he used and what he did for post production.

Alll the best
Click to expand...

i saw the trailer for this...absolutely stunning. I third the dvx, tapes shouldn't be to much of a problem, and depending on where your going you should always be able to buy more....
 
I'm filming my son's soccer game with my dvx100b. Can any one suggest a lens i can use to get better close ups and for mainly paning left to right from the stands on the 50 yard line. Any help would be much appriciated...
 
I have a HDR-SR7 and while it's a good camera I think you'd probably be happier with a dvx. In the end, you'll probably be able to do a lot more especially if you're shooting 24p.

The one nice thing about the SR7 is the hard drive space. Once you fill up the drive it's easy to copy it over to your PC or laptop, or just burn it onto a dvd.
 
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