Equipment to buy with $1500

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LogwanProductions

Hey everyone, new here, but not new to filming.
We're working on a documentary for a school club/awareness program, and we might be getting a $1500 grant. I admit that I'm certainly no pro, but a lot of you are! So some pointers on what to buy with that would be greatly appreciated:)

It's going to be used for the documentary, as well for our upcoming Film Club and hopefully Film Course next year. It's a high school, not a crazy College or University.

Camcorders, lights, tripods, storage?

And just to add, I don't think 1 camcorder would suffice, so we're probably not going to be able to get some pro one.
 
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If you don't have a camera and tripod...that's the obvious place to start. Since...uhh...you won't be doing any documentaries without it. :)

Since this is for a school (High School ?) club, you don't need HD...you can get a consumer-grade SD camera and a tripod...that's a good place to start. I don't know of any specific SD models at that price range...but I'm sure someone else here can suggest some.

You can always Google, "Digital cameras under $1000"
 
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Well, we have camcorders and tripods. Our film crew at least, this money is to buy stuff for the school. Otherwise, we've got a HDD and a few MiniDV camcorders, but once we graduate next year, school won't have anything.
 
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If your school is granting you monies for equipment, and they don't have a camera yet, then use the money for that (if they want a video camera) and a tripod.

Cheers.
 
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Yeah its important to have a good camcorder, but in the end of the day its just a start of the film club, and you'd need good lights, audio, etc to do justice to a good camcorder. Am I right?

Yeah I actually didn't think of audio, hopefully we can fit it in there.
 
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LogwanProductions said:
Yeah its important to have a good camcorder, but in the end of the day its just a start of the film club, and you'd need good lights, audio, etc to do justice to a good camcorder. Am I right?

Yeah I actually didn't think of audio, hopefully we can fit it in there.
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It's a school club...you're not going to need good sound gear. You're going to first need an inexpensive SD cam with a tripod. If you have any extra money, I'd say get a few inexpensive can lights.

I don't think a boom fits into your budget...if it does, go for it...if it doesn't, you can use your onboard mic for now.

$1500 ain't much.
 
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I grabbed this Sanyo Xacti HD1010 from Amazon, they have an amazing deal on it and would probably be perfect for what you are looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-HD1010-...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1256132759&sr=8-1

Tripods are very inexpensive and very important so def grab one of those. Grab some of the clamp on lights from home depot (http://www.drillspot.com/pimages/2126/212659_300.jpg) and some gels.

And I'd invest the rest in good sound. A shotgun microphone (I got a rode ntg2 and am very happy with it) and a XLR adapter (beachtek dxa-2s).
 
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cstegner said:
I grabbed this Sanyo Xacti HD1010 from Amazon, they have an amazing deal on it and would probably be perfect for what you are looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-HD1010-...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1256132759&sr=8-1

Tripods are very inexpensive and very important so def grab one of those. Grab some of the clamp on lights from home depot (http://www.drillspot.com/pimages/2126/212659_300.jpg) and some gels.

And I'd invest the rest in good sound. A shotgun microphone (I got a rode ntg2 and am very happy with it) and a XLR adapter (beachtek dxa-2s).
Click to expand...

A mic setup (Rode ntg2) is going to run you around $300--if that's in the budget, definitely get it.
 
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cstegner said:
From Amazon

HD1010 - $349 x2
Rode NTG2 - $269
Beachtek dxa-2s - $179

amazon total = $1,146

steadicam (http://www.littlegreatideas.com/steadycam/) = $40

$314 left to get clamp on lights ($5 each), 2 tripods, gels, a sheet of Styrofoam and some xlr cables and a boom pole.
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You're going to spend around $100 minimum for a boom pole--if you're going to record pro sound, there's no sense in getting a rickety pole that's going to cause problems...and $100 is the minimum I've seen them for. Make sure that's in the budget. If you got the mic...you need the pole--they are the same 'expense' (as are the cables).

Nice breakdown for a budget set otherwise my man.
 
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BUY A MIC BEFORE LIGHTS!!! I think half my film-y types friends have made this mistake... Light's are of course a ginourmous part of film, but they are fairly easy easy to "fake" on the cheap, with clip on lights like cstegner suggests. Onboard mics are usually terrible, and they can really constrict your shots because you have to be close to whoever is talking to even be audible. Imo, if you have sketchy visuals going on you can always pass it off as a "style" if you use it right... If you have crappy audio you're just going to annoy people.

Also boom poles and shock mounts are both relatively easy to go diy on... personally I'd go diy on the boom pole, and put more money into getting nice cables... Although I'm sure having a nice boom pole is awesome for your boom op :D
 
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I checked out the Xacti's last night. They seem decent, but flash cards and mpeg-4 compression aren't the greatest way to go, from what I've read at least. Plus with a hand held design like that, from the experience I've had using them, not as easy to be steady with, and on a tripod I find it easier to use a camcorder with some more weight. Will definitely be checking out the sound equipment though.

Future Shop have some JVC mini-dv camcorders going for around $180, new. Thoughts? And I don't know too much about gels/filters for lights. Would I be able to use those through simple clamp lights?

Thanks for all the info guys.
 
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I love the fact that that it saves to SD, to the point that I don't think I will be using anything but SD or HDD in the future. The quality at 1080 is also great.

I agree though that the size and weight makes it hard to keep steady, which is why I suggested the steadicam. Which you will honestly need for any camcorder. I think people mainly shy away from the HD1010 because the pistol grip doesn't "look" as professional. But you won't get a better picture with anything else for less then $600-700.
 
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cstegner said:
I love the fact that that it saves to SD, to the point that I don't think I will be using anything but SD or HDD in the future. The quality at 1080 is also great.

I agree though that the size and weight makes it hard to keep steady, which is why I suggested the steadicam. Which you will honestly need for any camcorder. I think people mainly shy away from the HD1010 because the pistol grip doesn't "look" as professional. But you won't get a better picture with anything else for less then $600-700.
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I wouldn't go handheld often though. I say get some sticks and start composing shots. Also, if the weight and size of your camera is a problem to keep steady, a tripod will solve this instantly.

Steady cam is not something you want to jump right into, nor do you need to fork out money right away for it. Stay away from this style...at least not until you've actually learned how to composes shots on a tripod. Once you're ready, you can find 'build your own' steady cams online everywhere..

Cheers.
 
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