What camera is best for filming bands?

T

tonyztours

New member
Hey,
I am wanting to buy two cameras for making dvd's for rock bands and am stuck with either the DVX102A or the Sony's DSR-PD170/DSR-PDX10 or the new HDV HVR-Z1.
Can I please have feed back on which camera is going to give the best picture in little or lots of light on stage, for the money spent. Thanks.
 
Re: What camera is best for filming bands?

I am in a band and use my DVX from time to time. I have to be honest with you, I have had very little luck with getting good low-light shots with this camera. Admittedly I haven't screwed with the settings as much as others here (namely Master PED), so there's maybe some room for improvement but I'm just starting to accept that I might have to develop a long term relationship with the GAIN button.

That said, if the club is REALLY nice and REALLY well lit, 24p works fine (24p is considerably 'darker' than 30i, in my experience), and depending on the nature of your shooting, you can go ahead and GAIN up, and then make it black and white, and then scratchy, and have that just be the 'look' of that particular clip. Then it becomes a 'style' and not a bad picture.

If you want to check a couple of clips that I've taken of -another- band, to see, by all means. http://www.diaryofaband.com/ then click on the 03.02 entry. it's entitled "some friends". The pics have been downsized (their poor families) but the lighting quality is still consistent, if that makes sense.

Phil
 
Re: What camera is best for filming bands?

I ran into the same thing. Concerts are generally hard to shoot because of the low light. I had to turn the gain all the way up. which introduced alot of grain.

Don't get me wrong, I love the camera and use it for commercials all the time, but in low light, its a hard sell. If your going to use it for production where you have control over the lighting (music videos, commercials, promos) then go for it be cause it can give a ton of different looks.

But if its JUST for concerts, you might need something else.
 
Re: What camera is best for filming bands?

I personally use a DVX for the same purpose you do. I have learned that most clubs don't have the proper lighting and or gels to make awesome videos. When working with national acts which I do from time to time, that is a different story.

Any how your decission should first be based on 30 fps or 24 fps. If your looking for that VH-1 video look when you have the proper lighting then I would go with the DVX in 24 Pa.

If your looking for good detailed video in lesser lighting I would go with the PD-170 only because you can run and gun from club to club better with that camera. Just my thoughts.

Ray
 
Re: What camera is best for filming bands?

No, not a film. It is all going to be for DVD's.

[quote author=LloydC link=board=Events;num=1109921517;start=0#1 date=03/04/05 at 10:23:34]you want a film look?[/quote]
 
Re: What camera is best for filming bands?

[quote author=tonyztours link=board=Events;num=1109921517;start=0#5 date=03/04/05 at 20:30:36]No, not a film. It is all going to be for DVD's.

[/quote]

Ok, but you want the DVD with film look ? :)

Ulisses
 
Re: What camera is best for filming bands?

Don't mess him up too much, he's in New Zealand (we had a chat the other day!), which is a PAL country. No 24 or 30p, only 25...
 
Re: What camera is best for filming bands?


i have shot a few different bands and the one with crappy hotel ballroom lighting came out pretty damn dark but a friends band with really good lighting came out spectacular!

i just got my second dvx 100 and i can't wait to get a chance a "real" concert shoot because i'm tired of doing the one camera thing and am happily looking forward to having one camera locked down and the other for close up's etc.

i always get people who say they just want some shots of the show, close up and some crowd shots, but later they want a complete dvd of the show and it just doesn't have any continuity that way!

matthew
 
ulisses said:
Ok, but you want the DVD with film look ? :)

Ulisses
Click to expand...
No, I don't want a film look. What I'm really wanting to know is what camera is going to perform the best under low lighting?
 
I had good experiences with the PD-170 in low light conditions, even with 6 or 9db (I don't remember exactly the db grad in pd)

Ulisses
 
I have shot in clubs with both the DVX and with other non-24p cameras. Not that my tips will help much to a PAL DVX, but I've never captured "perfect" footage in a club with any camera. But the best I've ever done was with the DVX on 30p in the middle gain setting (12db I think) and the iris left mostly wide. I asked the club guy to really crank the lights, and slipped him $5. That did the trick for getting more footcandles. I just let the (minor) lens flare and the occasional blown highlights (when there was a 500w PAR 56 in the background) become the 'look' of the video. The band loved it, and I've been told they will bring me in to do a video for them when the CD is complete.
 
Thank you for all of your replys, i'm still 50/50 between the DVX and PD170 but then the PD10 has true wide screen. Maybe I should just pull sticks?
 
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