video diary type cameras for a doc

A

adeee

Member
hi,
I am about to make an observational documentary and wish to include in this film footage as shot by the particpants on their own (16-18 year olds) back in their own countries.
I am trying to figure out what cameras to buy for this ,
they will ideally be :

1. minidv
2 have very good sound (mostly them talking to camera ) or ability to add better mic?
3 very easy to operate and not too jerky a picture.
4 be sturdy to potentily hot or sandy environment and not too big or bulky.

anything else I might want to consider? basically they will record their own lives for a period of weeks or months and sending the tapes, and they will then travel to england for a course where we are filming them with full professional crew.

the budget is I am guessing up to maximum 800 uk pounds per camera , I am based in london uk
and looking to get 3 or 4 cameras.
does anyone have any recomendations?

many thanks


ade
 
mini DV. I gave Styx 2 cameras about 10 years ago to take on tour with them. I did the same with REO Speedwagon. They are regular camcorders that everyone can undestand and use and the quality is fine, offering authenticity. The main thing is explaining the concept properly. REO Speedwagon thought I was going for a big brother vibe and just sat the camera down and shot nothingness in the bus as a bad wide shot with poor audio. Styx did get it and they interacted with the camera amongst themselves. This is far more importent than what they are recording with, imo, as you will not be there.
Here's what Styx shot for me, if interested:
http://grinnerhester.com/styx.html
 
thats great, yea there will be alot of teaching required , had ideas of giving them direction as we went along and they sent tapes, did you do anything with the sound??? or was that just direct to the camera? what was the rough shooting ratio??? was there many hours of rubbish for a few minutes great material?
 
There was no problem at all with the audio from the cameras. As a matter of fact, ambience only adds to the authenticity. It makes the viewer know full well who was shooting it and brings them closer to the piece.
Styx gave me 11 hours of footage. I used 10 minutes for the show pilot. Helluva ratio but I'd not instruct them to shoot less because they will do just that and you'll be wishing you had more story-telling fodder. With any reality/documentary show, more is better.
 
In terms of durability -- tapeless is the way to go. Also, those tapeless consumer camcorders can do things like record seven to twenty hours on a single 32 gig SDHC card.

Based on the criteria you described (not including the "miniDV" thing) -- I'd look at something like the Canon FS200 (US$329.99). The HDV equivalent stream (about 6 mbps) could record about five and a half hours on a single 16 gig SDHC card (you know, those cards that are smaller than postage stamps). Also, that model has a mini jack for an external microphone -- although Canon consumer audio isn not entirely awful. I'd also look at equivalent Panasonics. The only thing I'd avoid is Sony -- but that's based on years of personal experience.

Obviously -- you'd want the PAL versions.

Sorry if that's not helpful -- but in terms of durability -- anything with a tape is a bad option.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=2544&modelid=17999
 
Honestly, I'd stay away from anything with a CMOS chip for this. Because video diary cameras are often handheld, poorly, the image is very shaky. The rolling shutter artifact of the CMOS will be challenging in this situation. Not knocking the folks who carry the cameras by any means, just observing fact and suggesting that a CCD camera is going to be a better bet.

I'd also outfit each one with a basic, cam-mounted mic (like the Rode Videomic). It's still going to give you the intimate feel of the video diary/confessional cam, but will also make sure that you don't lose as much dialog to adverse sound environments.
 
I had no audio woes with the stock mic on a consumer-level miniDV cameras. They provided exactly what I was looking for and the issue did not have to be confused with add ons.
 
A basic mic is an add-on, yes. But it's an easy one to deal with, especially if you have a camera and mic that interface through a smart shoe. For me, it's harder to enjoy footage shot footage with nothing but the built-in mic. A better mic pushes the footage that one simple step further.

But then, I guess that's my personal opinion and way of doing things.
 
sorry been sidetracked thankyou for all the advice, lots to look into. will gt back to you when I finalise it .

cheers
 
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