Pro-looking video interviews. £500. Ideas for camera and mic?

February 6, 2012 2:38 PM

Pro-looking video interviews. £500. Ideas for camera and mic? I'm looking for a video camera + external (lapel?) mic combination that will allow me to record 5 - 10 minute, high quality head and shoulders interviews in a studio. I've only got around £500 in total (I'm in the UK).

The interviews would be watched in HD via the web and need to look and sound as professional as possible. Recording to SD and a Mac-compatible file format are both also a must. I can lay my hands on a video lighting kit and have a good tripod. I'm looking for kit ideas rather than technique, as someone has offered to help me in that respect, but they can't think of a cheap camera as they're used to kit costing thousands.

posted by dowcrag to technology (3 answers total)

About a year ago I did exactly the same project, and used a Sony "prosumer" camera something like this, with an external Bluetooth lapel mic.

The Sony captured colour and tones beautifully. It was really awesome. I decided against using a lighting rig, as more experienced filmmakers said that once you go down the path of using lighting, you end up needing to use a lot.

Instead, I just used ambient light, usually from fluorescent bulbs, if you can believe it. The Sony did really well, although my editor was able to manipulate colours after the fact.

The Bluetooth mic worked really well, although it worked best when put on the table in front of the subject (otherwise it would capture tapping and breathing sounds etc).

All shots were shot from the shoulders, with the interviewee looking straight into the camera. The only thing that I wish I could have changed was that I didn't get any highlights into the eyes to make the eyes come alive. My solution, since, as an amateur I am anti-light rig, would be to shoot my subjects facing an open window. However, most of the interviews were shot in mid-winter.
posted by KokuRyu at 2:57 PM on February 6

Renting a canon 5D may only cost about 200 bucks for a weekend (plus ~2000 pre-authorized credit card in case of damage) from most camera stores; then you can rent a wired lav mic, XLR to 3.5mm adapter and field recorder (Tascam DR-05, Roland R-09, etc etc.)

Do your syncing with a clap of the hands when everything is recording and go for it.

Handheld recorder may not provide phantom power for the lav mic but the mic will also have a AA battery compartment to provide in-line power.

The 5D doesn't have great audio but the picture is good enough.
posted by Khazk at 4:12 PM on February 6

Honestly, if you have a good lighting setup, and you are doing your interview in a studio where you don't have to worry about a lot of ambient light or random distractions, any decent current HD camera can look very professional. I've used the canon HFS100 for corporate interview work and as long as you light things like a professional would, the quality is great.

I would definitely suggest not going the route of using a DSLR. While they can look fantastic in the right hands, they are significantly harder to use for video, and there is much more that can go wrong without you even knowing about it, since they aren't really video cameras. For professional sit down interviews, you don't need to have a shallow depth of field, and you don't need to worry about low light situations, since you will have a lighting kit, and those are the two situations where a DSLR really shines.
posted by markblasco at 10:37 PM on February 6