Cheapest cameras that are still effective for filmmaking

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Black1

I really like the look of 8 and 16mm, but the hassle involved in developing and transferring is not for me. What formats could you guys recommend that still have that warm, grainy feel, but look professional? And most of all, are dirt cheap?

Are there any professional quality Hi8 cameras out there?
 
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In the $1,000 and under range all cameras are pretty much the
same. A Sony is like a Sharp is like a Canon is like a Panasonic
is like Samsung. You can go to any Best Buy and pick up a camera
in that price range and you won’t be able to tell the difference.
The lens will be cheap and there will be few (if any) manual
controls. No video camera that is “dirt cheap” will give you the
look of film.

Older Hi8 and Digital8 cameras can be quite nice. Hi8 (introduced
in the mid 1980’s) is an analogue format, but many of the cameras
were of professional quality with excellent lenses and pro
controls. When I got mine (EVW-300) I used to to shoot local news.
It was, at the time, an excellent camera. But it’s analogue SD
signal isn’t as good as, say, a “Flip” camera. Though the
professional controls make it a far superior camera.
 
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A great modern HD camcorder is the Canon Vixia HF S10/HF S100 ($1,000).

Combined with a 35mm adapter (which can cost up to a thousand dollars with a mandatory image flipper), the cost would be somewhere around $2,000. The 35mm adapter would have a ground-glass plate would give you that grainy look you desire, and give you better depth of field. The downside with a 35mm adapter is that the ground-glass plate can lose anywhere from a 1/2 stop of light to a full stop, and sometimes even more if it's made poorly.

Unfortunately there is no "dirt cheap" option, unless you want really poor image quality. Older cameras that use Hi8 tapes would certainly be more grainy, but no tnecessarily in a good "film" way. The lines of resolution are also a bit below that of modern-day standard definition; I read somewhere that a tape from a Hi8 camcorder has only 280 lines of horizontal resolution (whereas the standard for today is 480 lines). So that would be something to consider.

I hope I was helpful. :)
 
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directorik said:
In the $1,000 and under range all cameras are pretty much the
same. A Sony is like a Sharp is like a Canon is like a Panasonic
is like Samsung. You can go to any Best Buy and pick up a camera
in that price range and you won’t be able to tell the difference.
The lens will be cheap and there will be few (if any) manual
controls. No video camera that is “dirt cheap” will give you the
look of film..
Click to expand...

Directorik (or anyone), what is the minimum price range and an example or two of cameras that are not all the same. Ones that you would recommend. For someone who has a limited budget, but wants to get something more than the one size fits all etc. ?

I've concentrated most of my learning of the last two years on screenwriting. I'd like to be a writer/director, so I want to start looking into the filmmaking side of things a bit here and there.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Jijenji said:
Directorik (or anyone), what is the minimum price range and an example or two of cameras that are not all the same. Ones that you would recommend. For someone who has a limited budget, but wants to get something more than the one size fits all etc. ?
Click to expand...
There are two things that are VERY important when getting a
camera:

Manual controls for the iris, shutter, focus and white balance.
A microphone input.

There are the cameras I’ve taken out for a test drive that come in
under $1,500.

JVC HM400
This is my favorite of the sub $1,200 cameras. The 1/2.3-inch CMOS
is really nice and it has a 1/8-inch mic jack. Unfortunately that
jack is in an awkward place. Like many recent cameras there is no
viewfinder but I also understand that most people just entering
the field don’t really need one. It doesn’t shoot in 24p which to
many is a deal breaker. Like most HDD cameras this records AVCDH
files which can be unwieldy to edit.

Canon HFS11 and HFS10
While this camera has nice manual controls for some reason there
is no independent control of aperture and shutter speed. It has a
1/8-inch mic jack and a nice lens. The single CMOS is quite large
at 1/2.6-inches. It shoots 60i, 24p and 30p.

Canon HG21
I like that this camera can capture to SDHC cards as well as the
HDD. It shoots in Canon’s 24p Cinema Mode as well as 30p. The
1/3.2 inch CMOS seemed to be very nice in the tests I did. The
joystick controls worked well and I adjusted to it quickly.

Panasonic HS300 and TM300
Excellent manual controls, but the touch screen system is awkward
- maybe really cool for beginners, but for more advanced users
this is a strange way to adjust controls. Both the mic input and
headphone jack are poorly placed. But over all an excellent
camera.

Sony XR520
I guess the touch screen is the new thing. I don’t like it. On
this camera there are no direct control of aperture, shutter speed
or gain. I liked where the mic and headphone jack were placed.
 
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