Which price friendly camera with decent audio recording options?

M

Mavoz

Well-known member
Hi,
For our student 'news show' we need to find a DLSR/mirrorless style camera that has:

* Microphone Input
* Headphone monitoring
* Meters on screen
* Interchangeable lenses.
* Ok for video and photo...
* Not break the bank.
* User friendly
* Preference leans to Canon...because I have a bunch of lens already...but open to suggestions!

We plan to buy around 6 to 12 cameras.

We really don't need or want 4K or the most incredible image known to mankind...just edit friendly....decent quality audio and video. (We have a bunch of Shure Sm58 mics so would probably adapt these in)

Any cams come to mind?

Thanks!
 
Not needing 4k offers the opportunity to buy used 2k cameras to go easy on your budget and perhaps have some money to buy other things. But warranty support may be important to you.
 
When you are buying a dozen cameras then you really do want to focus on value for money, which means staying far away from Canon, and I'd recommend instead Panasonic for max bang for your buck.

Secondhand Panasonic GH2 or GH3 are dirt cheap secondhand and I'd recommend.

But if you can skip the headphone output option (as you could hook up a cheap Liliput A5 monitor for that and use its headphone jack, or use a Tascam DR60Dmk2 or Zoom F4 is what I'd highly recommend) then the Panasonic G7 or G85 are massive bargains to buy for how much they otherwise offer (in fact I'd buy half G7 for the extra cost savings, and the other half G85 for the features).

For lenses, get a bunch of (much more than one each!!!): SLR Magic 8mm f4, Panasonic 14-60mm (the kit lens with the G85), Panasonic 14mm f2.5, 25mm f1.7, Panasonic 42.5mm, plus a bunch of vintage MF Nikkors with straight adapters and Viltrox focal reducers.
 
Thanks all....

NorBro said:
P.S. Weren't you looking to buy cameras a few months ago? Still no go?
Click to expand...

Yes that was me....we're getting ready for the 2019 school year here in Australia...so had to put in initial budget proposal...got approval for a certain amount of cash..not as much as I hoped...but at least some!

The Canon 80D is probably my front runner at present....but wondered about some of the newer cams I see people using like Sony's...

One thing I've found from experience is the whole dual audio thing is a real pain for kids....some students are quite advanced...so this would be fine...but ideally one shot...audio attached....

(I shoot dual audio myself with a Sound Devices Mix Pre....which is fantastic...and purchased after that other thread!)

But maybe we do just bolt on a Tascam or something and feed in the audio...I'm just trying to go for the KISS principle with kids!

Really any of the cams these days are fine for the quality of video....the glaring thing I see for the kids is these rookie mistakes..(which is my job to teach them)

* bad over/under exposure
* bad audio quality
* bad focus

We'll standardise with a camera family...and a whole range of lenses....

After seeing what happened to my beloved Samsung NX1....that was killed off.....need to make sure we get something that isn't going anywhere anytime soon!

Thanks!
 
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