camera-dept Good Camera for Nature Documentary

[JohnAndrews]

Hello, I am planning an 8 day nature walk/documentary this June. I am looking for the right camera to rent. I will be in a multi-acre forest and will be spending a lot of time in the shade of thick green leaves that will obscure some of the natural sunlight. I need a camera that will be ready to shoot with ease and will capture the immersive environment in quality 4K, in 10-bit video. I will be shooting in 30fps. I and some other people will be holding and talking into it as we walk. Occasionally I may be running. I also need a Mic jack for the rode wireless. There will also be some night shots. I will be entering this into several film festivals. I want to rely on as little gear as possible. I will use a key light during the day if need be, but I am going for as natural a look as possible while still retaining quality. I want as minimalistic a setup as reasonably possible. Internal stabilization would be nice, but I will probably be relying on a gimbal. I have a 2017 MacBook and will be editing on this. 8 days worth of RAW files will be too much for it. I was considering the Sony a6600, but I wonder the image will look too flat and amateurish. But perhaps with the right lens it will look better.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

 

[directorik]

The A6600 would be a great camera for a nature walk doc. Add the UURig
cage and handle and you've got a small enough rig to take with you.

Another really good camera for your needs is the Fujifilm X-T4. They don't
advertise as much as Sony or Canon but they make a solid camera. However,
I doubt the rental house will carry that camera.

You can't go wrong with the Canon EOS R. Great lens choices, too.

 

[Feutus Lapdance]

How are you gona solve the batery problem for 8 days?

 

[StoneJack]

Hello, I am planning an 8 day nature walk/documentary this June. I am looking for the right camera to rent. I will be in a multi-acre forest and will be spending a lot of time in the shade of thick green leaves that will obscure some of the natural sunlight. I need a camera that will be ready to shoot with ease and will capture the immersive environment in quality 4K, in 10-bit video. I will be shooting in 30fps. I and some other people will be holding and talking into it as we walk. Occasionally I may be running. I also need a Mic jack for the rode wireless. There will also be some night shots. I will be entering this into several film festivals. I want to rely on as little gear as possible. I will use a key light during the day if need be, but I am going for as natural a look as possible while still retaining quality. I want as minimalistic a setup as reasonably possible. Internal stabilization would be nice, but I will probably be relying on a gimbal. I have a 2017 MacBook and will be editing on this. 8 days worth of RAW files will be too much for it. I was considering the Sony a6600, but I wonder the image will look too flat and amateurish. But perhaps with the right lens it will look better.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

Look for Nikon Z6. You can do 10 bit 4k on Ninja V and n log; you can do excellent 8 bit 4k 30 fps. Colors are amazing and files are very good.

 

[Lucky Hardwood]

I'm going to recommend the Canon C70. 16+ stops of dynamic range with Canon's legendary color science, and built in ND. It also has 2 mini XLR jacks for audio and will shoot 4K 120 fps (just in case you decide to grab some slo-mo shots). My other choice would be the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro for most of the same reasons. The PCC6K only has 13 stops of DR, but you can record direct to USB-C drives and in BRAW compressed (up to 12X compression). Any rental house should stock both of these cameras.