Field camera for broadcast/production?

[Mylo]

Hey guys

Please don't bash me because of these questions since I don't know where to ask but here

I have a plan on making my own little travelogue or documentary, I don't know what differentiates the two, but, never the less, something of that sort.

These are basically the main premises of my idea

- it will be practically all the time in the open
- I would like to edit it on the spot
- I would like to have a camera that's compatible enough but also good enough to broadcast the footage

So, any ideas, is the "field editing" an option, what additional equipment do I need, and what camera would you recommend?

Thanks 8)

[poisondeathray]

Price range?

Clarify what do you mean by "broadcast?" Web delivery?

[Mylo]

TV broadcast, I would like to get my project aired on local TV stations. I really think I can execute it, because some programs they show there are really...average.

Price range...well...let's say...10 000 $ max ? If there's an online shop with the types of cameras you think I should use, point me to it so I can get the idea what the prices of those things are.

Also, what about "terrain edit" options?

[Mylo]

Anyone?

[poisondeathray]

Where in the EU are you located?

What specs for local TV? are they HDTV?

What types of documentary? e.g. filming wildlife footage would have different requirements than filming people for example

Editing in the field would probably limit usage of AVCHD type recording.

I pm'd EdDV for you, as he will have better insight in this area, as he works in broadcast

[Mylo]

Thanks for the PM. I will work on the project in Austria - or to be more precise, I will start to work on the project in Austria and travel to Denmark in the process.

I was thinking about buying the equipment, since that's basically what I want to do later on, so renting is really not a option.

As for TV specs...I don't think it's HDTV. At least not the stations I want to pitch to. However, I was thinking about making a DVD from it.

So I'm a little bit confused, how to deal with both DVD possibilities and TV broadcast limitations.

[zoobie]

Anyone?

They're probably too busy laughing since the only thing you've decided is that you want to make your own little travelogue.
Now edDV is to make all your decisions for you?
Does he even know about this?
Can't wait to see the EDL

[Mylo]

Whatever zoobie, you can either help or mock, your choice, but trust me, I will do this, you can doubt it all you want...

[jimdagys]

I don't know the first thing about cameras, but I was pretty impressed with reading about the Red Camera US$25,000
www.red.com
sample video:
http://vimeo.com/1340684
My camera is an old Kodak instamatic I pulled out of a thrift shop dumpster. It had a 25- cent price tag on it. Still couldn't sell it, so they threw it away. Can't buy the film anymore.

[kimco52]

Why don't you go to the stations you want to pitch to and ask them what they need and what they would recommend for field work? That seems to be the easiest. Our field cameras are not cheap that we use for ENG and regular production. Our Spanish station will go out and shoot video for local commercials in mini-DV and edit in Final Cut. Our news dept. edits in a different environment. Some shoot on tape, some on Memory cards and bring the card in to the edit bay. Cable companies use even less stuff. Most broadcasters do not accept DVD's unless it is important. They want original uncompressed format....or the least compressed format.
Particularly for outdoor nature type stuff.

[Mylo]

I will definitely ask. I browsed a bit on generic websites such as Discovery, Travel, NG, and looked up their terms for producers

It's pretty vague, nothing technical or specific about filming. Also Discovery needs to validate you as a production company before you can read their terms and demands for producing for them. Little bit complicated, I guess.


The Red camera on Vimeo looks amazing, real quality work there. I'm afraid it's a bit too pricey and honestly to valuable to be carrying around on a outdoor field trips doing drive shots from boats and all...

Do you think something like EW3 could meet todays standards for majority of established networks?

[edDV]

I just saw this. We would need to get into more detail about your field production needs but to start, these are the types of budget cameras that have been most used on Discovery type travel shows.

Standard definition

The Sony PD170 for 4x3 aspect DVCAM. The problem is this cam isn't optimal for 16x9 (wide aspect).
Used DVCPro news cams - There are many available used as most broadcasters go to HD production.


I'd recommend you go HD so your programs have some future value.

The old trusty (2004 vintage) reality cam was the HDV HVR-Z1U. This has been replaced by the HVR-V1E.

Another option is Panasonic's P2 flash ram, DVCPro-HD HVX-200.

A newer Sony option and the one I'd consider is the XDCAM-EX ~$7K, PMW-EX1 (or EX3). These are flash ram based and ram is much more expensive than tape. Be sure to budget for RAM.

There is a new dual DVCAM/XDCAM-EX model that has been announced called the PMW-EX1R. List price is $7.790. It ships in December. Reviews are just coming in.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-PMWEX1R/
http://hd-trainings.de/

Be sure to budget for training since you are new to this.

[minidv2dvd]

those sony memory cards add up quickly - a single 32GB goes for around $900 at discount houses.......

[edDV]

those sony memory cards add up quickly - a single 32GB goes for around $900 at discount houses.......

Figure about 18GB/hr. for XDCAM-EX at @35Mb/s

Panasonic P2 cards are up there in price as well.

If you can't handle flash RAM cost, drop back to HDV tape (HVR-V1E or HDR-FX7).

http://www.digitalcamcordernews.com/2006/09/sony-hvr-v1e-hd-digital-camcorder
http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowProduct.action?product=HVR-V1E&site=biz_en_GB