Outfit a Newbie Guerilla

[CommonHighrise]

Got a NVGS85, and cobbled together enough gear to get footage to my PC, and do basic editing work. The shooting Im looking to do is varied, from quick mockumercials, simple underground docs, and the occasional zombie short. With gear cost, durability, simplicity, and flexibility are my concerns, in that order. My questions;

-Audio pickup; I see the cheapo 'zoom' add-on mics on Ebay, worth the money? Reccomend something similar in weight and bulk?

-Aux lighting; Scene lighting can be handled through Mcgyverism, but would it be prudent to add an on-camera lighting system for on-the-go? Would I be best served going with a couple mini-maglites with LEDs and diffusers rigged on?

-T'pod; Most of my tripod knowledge comes from still camera work. What should I look for in a tripod head for film work? I see people reccomending to others a liquid head, would that be neccesary for my lightweight camera?

-Lenses; Again, still camera work has instilled a gluttony in me for lenses. Teles, fishies, and filters galore dance through my dreams. Anyone reccomend a particular brand or package deal for the 37mm lenses?

-Batteries; Kinda NVGS85 specific, but anything I can do to add flexibility in power, other than buy a bunch of spare batts and keep the ACDC jack handy?

-CommonnotquiteRomeroyetHighrise

 

[Xylofonic]

Hi,

-Audio: Take a good (expensive) directional mic. That is priceless. Also an mic boom (operator?) can do Magic specially if your camera makes brrrrrrrrrrr if the mic sits on the cam.

-Lighting: That sounds experimental, why not.

-Tripod: I don´t know the english term for it, its a half sphere shaped bottom kind of thing head. With just one lever you can set the head inline with the horizont independent of the grounds orientation. That makes you fast. Fluid is always fun. With a light camera you also can try to move the head directly with both hands instead of the usual boom. That makes tilts etc. much smoother and easier.

-Lenses: Wideangle not realy fisheyes are much more usable.