newbie questions: camera, mic, other gear

[hoby]

My wife is interested in experimenting with filming in the hopes of eventually working on feature films. She's currently in grad school, and will be heading back to China (where she's from) this summer for a few months off. She hopes to use that time to experiment with filming (probably not anything with actors yet—just getting used to the camera, etc.).

After reading a lot of posts on this forum (this place is great, by the way), we're thinking of getting her a JVC GZ-HD7 (we're hoping to keep all equipment costs together to around $1500-$2000). I found it at B&H Photo for $1000. Can someone tell me the difference between this and the Canon GL2 (which we were also thinking about)?

In addition, what else would you recommend we get so that she can spend the summer learning the technical side of filming? I think so far she's hoping for things that she can use all by herself (e.g. nothing like a boom mic that would require another person to hold it). For reference, she has a MacBook (not Pro) with iMovie '08 on it.

Here's what we're thinking in addition:

1. On-camera mic. Any suggestions? I saw good reviews of the Azden SGM-2X at B&H Photo.
2. Beachtek DXA-2S so she can use an XLR mic.
3. Tripod (does it matter what kind we get?)
4. Something for storage/backup of her films. What do you all use as storage/backup systems? We're planning on getting her a portable hard drive (WD My Passport 320 GB). In addition, we're debating between buying her another external drive (probably 1 TB) or just having her burn things to DVD occasionally. Her hard drive failed once and we lost some data, so we're very nervous about something like that happening again.

Well, I guess that's it. We would appreciate any suggestions for what to buy (without loading down her suitcase too much).

 

[directorik]

The JVC recodrs HDV and has a really nice Fujinon lens, which makes a
huge difference. Three 1/5’ 16:9 progressive scan CCD’s are pretty
impressive for a camera in this price range. It records directly to a built
in 60GB hard drive. It has manual controls, a mic input and an excellent
focus ring which is surprisingly rare on small cameras.

The Canon Gl2 is a SD camera and is in my opinion a fine camera. The
"frame mode" is inferior to progressive scan and the lens isn't very good,
but this is a really nice camera for the price.

What you're looking for is a good shotgun mic. That in itself is a generic
term that means any long barreled mic. You want a good condenser
(externally powered) mic with a “lobar” pick up pattern to put on your
boom pole. Lobar pick up means the mic focuses its audio pick up to a
narrow area. This is why you want to use a boom pole to get the mic
as close the the actor as possible - you’ll get clean dialogue tracks with
less ambient noise, so mounting the mic on the camera is where poor
audio starts.

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/
Sennheiser is the mic most used by professional sound recordists. They
are expensive and worth it. Check out the ME-66 and the ME-67. The
MKH60 is the best if you can afford it.

http://www.audio-technica.com/
Audio-Technica is cheaper. Check out the AT835B. It’s a workable mic,
a little muddy and not as directional as it should be. The AT835ST is a
good mic for the price, but it, too, sounds a bit muddy - the vocals don’t
sound crisp enough for me.

http://www.azdencorp.com/
I’ve never used Azden mic’s. They’re inexpensive and unlike you, I don’t
hear too many good things about them, but if that's all you can afford it's
MUCH better than using the camera mic.

A good mic is an investment. It will last longer than your camera - why skimp?

Hard drives sometimes fail. So do DVD's. But there is no better way to store
your footage than on an external hard drive.

 

[hoby]

Thanks a lot for the feedback, directorik. On the mic, though, she's actually hoping for a camera-mounted mic, not a boom mic. From what I can tell, the ME-66 and ME-67 both need a boom pole, right? Is the Sennheiser MKE 400 good as as camera-mounted mic? Would it work with the JVC HD7?

Thanks again.

 

[directorik]

Just for clearity - there is the mic and the boom. The "boom mic"
is the combination of both units working together.

The further away the mic is from the actors, the higher the volume
needs to be. The higher the volume, the more “noise” you get. Your
goal is to have a very high signal to noise ratio - more signal (the
dialogue) less noise (the background). Even a very good, expensive
Sennheiser mounted on the camera will pick up a lot of background
ambiance because it’s far away from the actors. Any of the mics
mentioned will be only fair mounted on the camera.

I own the HD7. It's a fine little camera.