What Camera For My Walk Across America?

mikewalks

mikewalks

I will be walking across America to produce a Documentary of the full journey.

After lots of searching I have decided to buy two more Canon HV40's for the walk. It is a perfect size and I want to stick to the HDV format so I can easily store the tapes. The walk will be 10 months and I don't want to be carrying a bunch of HD's to store footage.

I will also be taking:

-Rode SVM Microphone
-Canon WD-H43 0.7x Wide Angle Converter for HV Camcorders
-Manfrotto 190XDB with 701HDV Video Tripod System
-Panasonic HDV Tapes
-Extra Batteries and chargers

And For photo I will be using 2 Canon g12's. One for the other walker and one for me. Most of the gear will be on a custom made push cart in a airtight waterproof case.

I am also considering taking a Gopro HD Hero to get some interesting shots.

When I am away form a power source I will be using a Goal0 solar panel.

My question is:

Do you know of better camera system for a project like this? I already have 1 hv40 and I love it. I would like to stay away from lager systems like the XH A1.
 
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I have a canon 7d and I love it. But I don't see myself having the time to manual focus on this trip. I will be mounting one of the cameras to the push cart as well. I also would rather have a tape format. I don't want to carry a bunch of HD's and I want a hard copy of the footage.
 
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LessThanThreeLeo said:
DSLR
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The problem with DSLR is that it only records, what, about 12 minutes? That means he would need huge number of data cards and have to stop every 12 minutes to change cards in his camera(s).

My questions arise more from "what is the formula" and "documentary about what"? A walk across America is all well and good, but why are you walking across the country? Is it a journey of self discovery? Are you (visually) looking at the country itself or is the interaction with people the important theme. I think that all of these need to be answered before anyone can make equipment suggestions. For instance, the Rode VideoMic is actually a pretty crappy mic, and it's bulky to boot. What is the most important audio aspect? Local ambiences? Interviews? Personal commentary? And it seems that you are giving audio very short shrift; you'll spend $1,200 for two additional cameras, and yet your entire audio budget is only $150? Unless you are planning on a silent film you'll have to do better than that; remember, you only get one shot at this and you'll have to live with whatever audio you end up with. Give yourself at least a chance of audio success.
 
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I edited a doc made by a hiker who walked across America
for 17 months ending in Nov 2008. He used one Canon GL2
for the entire trip. You love the HV40 so I don't think you can
get much better than using a camera you already love.

When do you start? Where do you start from?
 
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Alcove Audio said:
The problem with DSLR is that it only records, what, about 12 minutes? That means he would need huge number of data cards and have to stop every 12 minutes to change cards in his camera(s).

My questions arise more from "what is the formula" and "documentary about what"? A walk across America is all well and good, but why are you walking across the country? Is it a journey of self discovery? Are you (visually) looking at the country itself or is the interaction with people the important theme. I think that all of these need to be answered before anyone can make equipment suggestions. For instance, the Rode VideoMic is actually a pretty crappy mic, and it's bulky to boot. What is the most important audio aspect? Local ambiences? Interviews? Personal commentary? And it seems that you are giving audio very short shrift; you'll spend $1,200 for two additional cameras, and yet your entire audio budget is only $150? Unless you are planning on a silent film you'll have to do better than that; remember, you only get one shot at this and you'll have to live with whatever audio you end up with. Give yourself at least a chance of audio success.
Click to expand...

I will post more info about the walk later, This question is not how to make a documentary. I was asking your opinions on a portable solution for the video. And most of the film is going to have a narrator voice over with a Blue Microphones Kiwi mic.

And I have used a Rode many times and by no means have I ever got crappy results. I am talking about the $249.00 Rode SVM not the $150.00 one. I made a mistake and put the video mic in the first post.
 
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Here is a map of our route. We start in Astoria Oregon and end in New york.
screenshot20110109at432.png


I will post more info after the new website is up.
 
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Id go for a solid state device. No transport to clean, no tapes heads to worry about... Like the canon HFs100 ... little chips are much lighter and smaller than tapes, maybe not cheaper but that much footage is going to be expensive no matter what.

Also, Id look into the Hero or some other helmet cam for mounting to your cart or what ever. Having a few angles to chose from for an edit would be good.

If you starting in Astoria, head down 202\47 and you can sleep your 2nd or 3rd night at my place!

EDIT: Sorry, I got so excited by your route that I missed that you already had planed on a gopro.. my bad..
 
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wheatgrinder said:
Id go for a solid state device. No transport to clean, no tapes heads to worry about... Like the canon HFs100 ... little chips are much lighter and smaller than tapes, maybe not cheaper but that much footage is going to be expensive no matter what.

Also, Id look into the Hero or some other helmet cam for mounting to your cart or what ever. Having a few angles to chose from for an edit would be good.

If you starting in Astoria, head down 202\47 and you can sleep your 2nd or 3rd night at my place!

EDIT: Sorry, I got so excited by your route that I missed that you already had planed on a gopro.. my bad..
Click to expand...

I love not having to deal with tapes or digitizing. But I don't want to be in a position where I have to stop and dump the Camera's HD to keep filming. I will be in situations where I can't pull out sensitive computer equipment to import. One of the HV40's will be in a waterproof case for situations like that. I will also buy a few gopro's to mount on the cart and a extending painters pole for some shots.
 
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