DV/HDV Camera and mic solution?
September 13, 2010 4:55 PM Subscribe
What is a good DV/HDV camera with wireless mic for a historical society to use in creating videos for uploading on youtube and making DVDs? Budget: $2.5k
I work for a non-profit county historical society who has a number of licensed guides that we want to film. I have experience in editing and that type of thing but little knowledge on what's up-to-date for 2010 as far as cameras and mics go. We need a DV/HDV camera (we have space for HD) with a wireless mic solution. The mic should have some sort of good windscreen solution as most of this filming takes place outdoors or in buildings where noise/wind is sometimes an issue.
The footage will go up on youtube and that sort of thing but we'll also be combining stuff for release on DVDs, if that impacts the ideal setup at all.
The budget they've presented me with allocated 2,500 USD for a camera and a mic. We already have the computer and hard-drive space (about 9 TB on a NAS I've setup, so that's not really an issue yet), I just need suggestions on cameras/mic for what we want to accomplish.
One last note -- Every so often we put on an event in which we need to pull A/V from the camera into another room to a television. If the camera could have the necessary outputs to get video/audio to a television in another room that would be fantastic.
I work for a non-profit county historical society who has a number of licensed guides that we want to film. I have experience in editing and that type of thing but little knowledge on what's up-to-date for 2010 as far as cameras and mics go. We need a DV/HDV camera (we have space for HD) with a wireless mic solution. The mic should have some sort of good windscreen solution as most of this filming takes place outdoors or in buildings where noise/wind is sometimes an issue.
The footage will go up on youtube and that sort of thing but we'll also be combining stuff for release on DVDs, if that impacts the ideal setup at all.
The budget they've presented me with allocated 2,500 USD for a camera and a mic. We already have the computer and hard-drive space (about 9 TB on a NAS I've setup, so that's not really an issue yet), I just need suggestions on cameras/mic for what we want to accomplish.
One last note -- Every so often we put on an event in which we need to pull A/V from the camera into another room to a television. If the camera could have the necessary outputs to get video/audio to a television in another room that would be fantastic.
If you don't get enough response here, you can also try the DVXUser and DVInfo forums.
posted by jjb at 6:51 PM on September 13, 2010
posted by jjb at 6:51 PM on September 13, 2010
These are pretty good and you can get them for a good price used, then add the mic system: Panasonic DVX
posted by shoppingforsanity at 9:54 PM on September 13, 2010
posted by shoppingforsanity at 9:54 PM on September 13, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
First, ask yourself if you REALLY need to go wireless with the sound. A $2000 wireless system is almost as good as a $25 cable.
If you really do need to be wireless, expect to spend no less than $600 per channel. The go to recommendation for a basic wireless transmitter & receiver is the Sennheiser G3 line. Note that because of the DTV transition, there are a lot of older units cheap on eBay and the like that are illegal to use in the US (Anything in the 700MHz band is no longer legal).
The included lav mic should be good enough for what you're doing. For wind protection, an assortment of MicroCats will help cut the bulk of the wind noise. Be sure to plant the lav on the talent in such a way that you avoid clothing noises. Some fabrics are way worse than others to work with.
Make sure you're monitoring the sound with good headphones (Sony MDR7506 are my go to cans).
As for the camera, something with XLR inputs will make life a lot easier, sound-wise.
posted by jjb at 5:11 PM on September 13, 2010