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anyone know about cameras

joe81 - Nov 29, 2004

		joe81		Nov 29, 2004
			i was wondering if digital 8 cameras are a good enough alternative to 9mm film cameras for making inde movies? if anyone has any cam exp

		Berty		Nov 29, 2004
			Hi-8 isn't very good at all. Try getting a single chip dv cam, or better yet use film!. I "have" a sony PDP-150 with an upgraded lense and that thing really kicks ass, so long as the lighting is good also but they are a bit pricey.

		lordofduct		Nov 30, 2004
			Digital should NEVER be considered an alternative to film!Each have their advantages seperate of each other. One great for editing and price(digi), and the other just looking so damn gorgeous(film). (of course there are more advantages on either side, but why should I waste my time!) But yeah, it all comes down to what you want to do with your camera... Family Films - of course look for price Indie Films - a lot comes into play! do you want a dry flat and grainy look to it. Or do you want a lot of contrast and high range of color. Are you filming primarily in low light or high light? I really never found a good all around camera... So decide between what you want. For a lot of color go with a 3-color chip... if you want to save some funds and like that dry grainy look go with a cheaper single chip. (blue filters help a lot to fix the grainy look too, but only works with great lighting... no night shots! Not blue filter like blue tint..) Now i will get ready for Berty to tell me how wrong I am... but seriousily it all comes down to preference! I like high color in dark shots, so i spend the flow!

		Malakai		Nov 30, 2004
			NIN did one of their complete DVD concerts on mini dv. It was then editted completely on a mac. It's not perfect, but what would be, in a dark concert, without perfect lighting. I've had several vhs, vhs-c, and normal 8mm camcorders, and the 8mm seems to be better quality than the other two, in pretty much all circumstances. I would prefer film, if the quality was good enough. If they would just start producing 16mm film again, at a somewhat affordable price, I think that'd be awesome. Don't think just because it's analog that it's going to look bad. It's like music.. If you get a really nice reel to reel setup, it's going to have a good s/n ratio, and a lot of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and digitally recorded music on a cd. That's why some studios still use them for mastering tapes..

		joe81		Nov 30, 2004
			eh i have very limited funds that's why i was just going to buy a digital 8 i know they're better than vhsc but wanted some input. it'd be more of a noir movie it wouldn't be too dark but it'd be dark

		lordofduct		Nov 30, 2004
			Try to use some creative lighting then... you know like they do in tv shows. Use soft low watt bulbs that spread instead of pointing on a single subject.

		joe81		Dec 1, 2004
			how much recording time does it get compaired to the digital 8(how many hours can you record on the media)

		Malakai		Dec 1, 2004
			most of the mini dv cassettes i've seen were around 60 mins..

		joe81		Dec 28, 2005
			anyone know of a site that has cheeper prices for cameras? i looked on bestbuys site since they were the only site out of the retail sites that have high performance video cameras. the one i was looking at on there is like 3,000 so i was wondering if there's a better site to buy cameras off of.

		lordofduct		Dec 28, 2005
			3G sounds affordable for a highend DV-Cam. Using google though I just found a Panasonic for 1800 at Here....

		VertigoXX		Dec 29, 2005
			Out of curiosity... Is this for a college project, or are you looking to become the next Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez?

		joe81		Dec 29, 2005
			personal hobby i'm a couple of months out of college now.

		tsumake		Dec 30, 2005
			I'd wait a bit before getting a new dv camera. Yes, the technology will always improve, but right now there's a big push to go HD. I bet within a year you'll be able to find cameras that shoot at least in 1080i. If you can wait until you can get one of those kind of cameras, do it. Otherwise, go to a pawn shop and get a one-chip or even a three chip. I know there are those who would bombard you with technical jargon until your ears bleed, but at the price range you're at, I wouldn't be so concerned. I got a Sony PC100 five years ago. It was considered to be quite nice (and expensive). Now they use that kind of camera for Dogma films... Although, I'm still able to get a decent image out of it, considering it's a one-chip. Most mini-dv cameras are at least a three-chip, meaning that they have three sensors measuring red, green, and blue, meaning a better color rendition than a one-chip. I guess most importantly is, do you have any good ideas? Have you written anything? Have you worked with actors before? Because all the technical know-how won't amount to crap if the content isn't there. I just finished "working" on an indy film in New York which was shot on a Varicam (they were originally going to use a Sony Z1 and shoot in 1080i, but the DP bitched and so they got the Varicam). The Varicam shoots in 720p, and at best looks like 16mm transferred. At best. And I don't even want to talk about the script. So, my advice before even getting a camera is develop your ideas, get your actors working, then get something to record it.

		joe81		Dec 30, 2005
			actually i was looking at one of the HD mini dv cameras to buy i figured might as well have the latest tech when making the movie. the stuff with script and things already worked it out. the actors ehh fuck um you can have what people think are the best actors and they still suck i'm not worried about bad actors i just need a dozen people that can just be themselves and forget the camera is running.

		tsumake		Dec 31, 2005
			Sony just came out with a consumerish HD camera. Here's a link from Best Buy: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=111... It's about 2000 dollars, but that's probably the cheapest it'll go to HD cameras these days. It'll sure as hell drop soon, I guarantee you.

		joe81		Dec 31, 2005
			if i was going to go with best buy for buying i'd go with this one http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=109... but i was looking for a good online site that'd sell cameras like this one or others that are cheeper than retail prices but a site that i could trust also.