Camcorder Recomendations

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GuerrillaAngel said:
As I hinted with the previous post, many. But like mainstream movies they're mostly awful. too. I'm also one of the few insiders that believe even a silent film for the deaf should have at least background music reflecting the correct tone of the film in order to have a higher upside in the marketplace. But who am I to argue with other directors' successes -- even though I found the films nearly unwatchable.
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Never knew of those, thanks Guerrilla :)
 
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Are you dead set on buying?

If I were you I would go the rental route, you'll save yourself money and avoid being stuck with an outdated piece of hardware in 6 months' time.

Take the money you've saved from your camera budget and put it towards other things that will have a much more substantial impact on your production quality:

  • Set design
  • Props
  • Lights
  • Paying a real audio recordist
  • post production sound
  • etc.

And don't underestimate the cost of feeding everyone!! That can easily hit several hundred dollars for a cast and crew of 7 over a few days.
 
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Sage Pictures said:
That's part of the fun!
(*will say soon)
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I don't know why you want to tease everyone in the first place, is it a ploy for attention ? :hmm:

if you want people to guess there is always the spoiler tag
surprise!


regarding the arri alexa, i went to their website and it's frustrating me. It doesn't seem to list any prices or even have a link to any resellers?

http://www.arri.com/camera/digital_...ct=251&cHash=4d3858908f0a8971c86318d603d7a5dd

where can i find out how much these things cost or where to buy them
 
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sfoster said:
I don't know why you want to tease everyone in the first place, is it a ploy for attention ? :hmm:

if you want people to guess there is always the spoiler tag
surprise!


regarding the arri alexa, i went to their website and it's frustrating me. It doesn't seem to list any prices or even have a link to any resellers?

http://www.arri.com/camera/digital_...ct=251&cHash=4d3858908f0a8971c86318d603d7a5dd

where can i find out how much these things cost or where to buy them
Click to expand...
the camera is $81k
according to
http://www.abelcine.com/store/Classic-ARRI-ALEXA-Starter-Kit/

the beam splitter rig is $45k
according to ebay.com

and i was seriously just kidding... because the topic starter wrote "decent price", which didnt tell me too much about his/her actual budget.
 
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sfoster said:
if you want people to guess there is always the spoiler tag
surprise!


regarding the arri alexa, i went to their website and it's frustrating me. It doesn't seem to list any prices or even have a link to any resellers?

http://www.arri.com/camera/digital_...ct=251&cHash=4d3858908f0a8971c86318d603d7a5dd

where can i find out how much these things cost or where to buy them
Click to expand...

That's a good idea - here is the reveal:

The Alexa is on the right!

The thing about the Alexa (current favorite camera for major movies), is that it is expensive. Very expensive ($80k). But fortunately low cost cameras can now more or less rival the big guys (in the bread & butter ways that matter).
 
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Michael Bergner said:
the camera is $81k
according to
http://www.abelcine.com/store/Classic-ARRI-ALEXA-Starter-Kit/

the beam splitter rig is $45k
according to ebay.com

and i was seriously just kidding... because the topic starter wrote "decent price", which didnt tell me too much about his/her actual budget.
Click to expand...

:lol: that explains why i couldn't find the price anywhere.


Sage Pictures said:
That's a good idea - here is the reveal:

The Alexa is on the right!

The thing about the Alexa (current favorite camera for major movies), is that it is expensive. Very expensive ($80k). But fortunately low cost cameras can now more or less rival the big guys (in the bread & butter ways that matter).
Click to expand...

Very cool.
 
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the black magic cinema camera is not all that to be honest, the image quality is ok but quite harsh, you need a very decent lighting set up to get any decent use of it.

yes i have shot on it, no i dont have a link im still editing it.

also it has sensor banding issues which i can see in the footage slightly which is offputting.
 
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Michael Bergner said:
haha... yeah bm cinema camera is quite present for its price compared to the quality. i would take that over any available camcorder at any given time.
But honestly arri alexa can shoot in a much higher resolution and framerate... so comparing it like that, is certainly not that easy :P
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Right? Its fantastic; finally a prores 16mm camera for 1k!
The thing that has kept me waiting on the sidelines is the framerate situation; I need more than 30, and will consider one when it can do at least 60.
As far as resolution - you'll be surprised to hear that they are a match in prores! They both do a fully resolved 2k prores. The Bmpcc actually appears more 'crisp' because of the lack of an olpf (filter in front of the sensor), while the Alexa has that softer look to detail that everyone loves because of its legendary olpf.
 
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Sage Pictures said:
Right? Its fantastic; finally a prores 16mm camera for 1k!
The thing that has kept me waiting on the sidelines is the framerate situation; I need more than 30, and will consider one when it can do at least 60.
As far as resolution - you'll be surprised to hear that they are a match in prores! They both do a fully resolved 2k prores.
Click to expand...

so whats a good alternative in the price range that would do 60fps?
and ideally prores 4444 instead of 422
 
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sfoster said:
so whats a good alternative in the price range that would do 60fps?
and ideally prores 4444 instead of 422
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Thats the rub at the moment; the nearest thing (60p and Prores) would be a good camera with clean output to an external recorder that can do 60 - not alexa expensive, but considerably more and clunkier. Then there is the Red Scarlet option (~15k) which writes to redcode (kind of like a prores 444). Now in practice, prores 422 is just fine, and in reality would not really be visually all that different from 444 or raw.

What I shoot now is a hacked GH2, which does similar datarate levels to prores at 24p, and then a very nice 720p 60 (100x better than the ubiquitous Canon dslrs):


 
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i don't think the 4444 is noticeable to the naked eye, but it comes into play during the color correction process since you have more chroma to work with. also kind of funny that the pocket cinema can't take stills or monitor audio levels on the lcd

apparently i have a lot of reading to do, there is also the crop factor of the sensor. maybe i'll skip ahead in my cinematography book and see if it discusses this issue.
 
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Dreadylocks said:
Are you dead set on buying?

If I were you I would go the rental route, you'll save yourself money and avoid being stuck with an outdated piece of hardware in 6 months' time.

Take the money you've saved from your camera budget and put it towards other things that will have a much more substantial impact on your production quality:

  • Set design
  • Props
  • Lights
  • Paying a real audio recordist
  • post production sound
  • etc.

And don't underestimate the cost of feeding everyone!! That can easily hit several hundred dollars for a cast and crew of 7 over a few days.
Click to expand...
I'm not set on anything. I'm not spending money on a set, I don't even know where I'd get an audio recordist, I was going to do post production sound, probably don't need to spend money on props, and I don't have to feed anyone. If I wanted to go the rental route, where could I do that?
 
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