What is a good camera for.....?

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Fade_To_Black

Hello,


I am starting to figure out what kind of budget I need for equiptment for my film.

It will be shot similar to: The Blair Witch Project, Apollo 18, Cloverfield, Quarantine, etc. In the sense that it the cameraman will be a character in the movie.

I am wondering what type of camera would be good for this type of project.

Bear in mind, this will be low budget, so nothing too fancy, really just need something that will get me through this film.


Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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I guess I don't understand the purpose of mating "nice" on board XLR jacks with "nice" lens + hi-def broadcast cinema quality video for a consumer that largely (as you identified and I agree) has zero intention of broadcasting any of their material - ever. They likely won't even put it on 720p DVD.

So what's the point?

1080p/24p = broadcast & festival/feature quality. Then you don't need on board audio or XLR jacks.
720p/30p = DVD & festival quality. Mini-jack is likely fine for the former, but isn't XLR a wee much in the wrong place for the later? For festival you'd still wanna go separate audio, right?
SD = Who cares?
 
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I've used onboard XLR for plenty of broadcast work. Onboard XLR is generally going to give better results than the H4n and DR100. An award winning documentary I worked on strictly used onboard XLR inputs. I use onboard XLR for local TV commercials and event work as well. I disagree that minijack is useful enough for anything; I refuse to use it for any paid work. Not having XLR inputs on prosumer level cameras would make a lot of my work harder.
 
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SinEater -

Hmm... ?
Well isn't that pretty interesting.
It seems many around here just love dog-talking on board recording of any kind and for any purpose other than "you just don't care", a position which I am reluctant to adopt.
(Obviously I have zero experience using this equipment myself).

So separate audio recording isn't the be-all end-all, is it?
Hmm...


Thank you, very much, SE.
 
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If you've got that kind of budget for your equipment, then I would rent something like an Epic or an Arri Alexa. A month with either will set you back somewhere around $15k, depending on what you get with it, and that still leaves you with another $5k-$10k to get your other equipment. If you don't want to rent, then getting something like a Sony F3 would be a good option for about the same price. Get a good camera stabilizer, too, as that's going to be vital in a found-footage-type situation (even though "shaky cam" is part of it, you still want your footage to be smooth enough that it's not hard to watch or nauseating).
 
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Fade_To_Black said:
The premise is, a group of friends go on a camping trip/hike in the woods, and come across a house with a bad past(haunted basically), it will be psychological horror/thriller, so the effects will mostly be sounds and movements that will drive the characters insane, at which point everyone for themself.
Click to expand...
Depending on your personal and creative take on this story you
could use an inexpensive camera. None of these people would
have a Cinealta or Alexa with them so you could use any of the
other cameras I mentioned. But I agree with cameronchapman;
if your equipment budget is in the $20k range you should rent
not buy. You can get some high end equipment for an 18 day
shoot with that kind of money.

Of course buying is fine if you have the cash on hand and are planning
on making several movies in the next two years. When you said, "Bear
in mind, this will be low budget, so nothing too fancy" I didn't think of
$20,000 for equipment purchase. I usually think of $20/25k as the
entire budget when I think low budget.

Not including camera, sound, lighting and grip purchases what is your
total budget for this movie?

EDIT: Okay, I've read more of your posts. I see you are planning this
"found footage" project, a documentary and a web series. So it seems
you should be buying some of the equipment. How much, total, do you
have to spend on equipment?
 
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