Hello, I am an aspiring film maker. I have written a few shorts that I would like to film. I have no idea what I am doing. Does anyone have recommendations for a video camera, sound and lighting equipment? I have made a few video projects but the quality is very crappy. It was just a hand held sony video camera. Thanks in advance!
Filmmaking / Directing : Camera equipment recommendations?? by Desiree Argentina
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Hello Desiree, As I am sure you are aware, Investing in production equipment can be quite costly, however you can get some prosumer equipment that is fairly reasonable. Camera; canon 5d III or canon 7d Lightning/grip gear; B&H has some good starter packages the list would be quite lengthy if I were to write it here. The next time you're in the city I would just pop in and inquire. Sound; recorder / mixer; tascam dr 680 or zoom f8 shot gun microphone; rode NTG 2 or 3, Sennheiser MKH 416, wireless microphone; Sennheiser G3 (there are cheaper option but you'll suffer with quality.) I hope this give you some insight and points you in a good direction. Best of luck in your career. Harry
renting equipment is another route. If you are in school, they have free equipment. equipment $$$$ adds up. I have over $5K in grip & lighting. Plus $1K++ of editing software for my Mac. all collecting dust :( Cameras need lenses, filters, tripods, bags.
Rent, borrow, hire a DP with equipment. See what works and which camera gives you the look you want for your projects.
Renting can be a cheap way to film and find what works for you. But if you are a collector like me. Then I love my rig: Blackmagic pocket cinema camera (has issues around low light and crop factor) Metabones EF adaptor (not cheap, kinda fixes above issues) Tascam recorder (bmpcc audio sucks) Rode NTG2 plus some invisilavs or a Videomic pro either on camera or boom, I've done both. All up about $2300 Australia, some used bits. Probably heaps cheaper in the USA. Only HD not 4K both the images are amazing.
It depends on your price range obviously as mentioned above. However, I would say that if you can afford it I would go with a Sony A7s. You can invest in the newer A7s2 if you'd like 4K but that's the only major difference between them. After that you're going to need lenses. If you don't have them already I would suggest renting them and a metabones adaptor so you don't have to use Sony lenses. This way you can find out which lenses you like before investing in them. Each company's lenses are different.
Some aspiring directors use phones. Many shoot in HD or 1080p quality. Before I took my film career seriously, I had worked as a photojournalist. My DSLR camera shoots video as well as still shots. Combined with a mic, I put together this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cAXAI5SN3M It's not the best, but it's a start. Good luck with your filming.
If you have an idea and it's not insanely expensive to do - just do it. Get any camera or hire someone to work for cheap. The story will carry if it's a good one - and no matter what comes out of that you'll learn for the future!