"Getting started": Camera and accessories recommendations?

[MattSP]

I think I started a topic here a while back, but I got distracted and never really came back around to it. Anyway, I recently graduated college a few months ago, and my aim is to make a living doing video editing/ video production work. I think I'm good, as far as the computer and software-related stuff for editing goes, so now I'm looking towards the hardware end of things, for actual video capture and production.

To me, the camera seems like the most important thing right this second. I've had hands on time shooting video in school, and I was trained for basic shooting techniques. The camera provided was a fairly old Panasonic camera that only shot in SD, so I don't know how "outdated" technology that might be at this point. Essentially, I want to be able to shoot nice quality video (ideally, I want it to look nice for as many purposes as possible; wedding videos, documentaries, music videos, basic film-making, without that "home video" look to it). I'd prefer something that saves the video to SD card (or some digital method), as I'd rather forego having to also invest in a tape deck to transfer video to my computer.

As for price range, I'm not really sure how much I should expect to pay for something that's "upper entry level". I'm sort of wary of paying anything more than $1000-1500, just on the chance that things don't pan out (I'd hate to invest thousands into something that goes nowhere for me, you know?), but I'm not sure whether that's a realistic price range or not.

A tripod would also be a necessity, so I'd need something that would work for whatever camera I go with. I'm curious as to whether it'd be worth it to invest in something right away that also functions as a dolly? I don't have a whole lot of experience with bigger productions just yet, so I'm not sure how necessary that is.

I also wonder what the best solution for recording audio would be, for various types of shoots, such as interviews or film making.

What about a light kit? I have almost no experience using these. We had them at school, but due to them being broken in the past, we weren't allowed to use them and had to have one of the staff handle them when need be, but I felt like my class rarely used light kits for any of the projects we did. So I'm not sure how necessary this is?

Anyway, it seems to me that the camera and tripod are the two most important parts right out of the gate. I guess I just wonder if I should try to invest in everything right away, or just stick with a camera/ tripod (and maybe some kind of audio solution) and go from there?

[Wolfen]

You'd probably get what you need by duckduckgo ing "Starting out as a videographer."

[redwudz]

Most video cameras in the consumer or 'prosumer' market use a format like AVC or H.264 video. A whole lot different than SD video with a tape type camcorder.

Since your initial search will likely be for a camcorder and accessories, this post would probably be better in our camcorder forum. Moving you.

I will also change your thread title to better reflect your subject.

Moderator redwudz

[MattSP]

You'd probably get what you need by duckduckgo ing "Starting out as a videographer."

I'll give that a look. Where, exactly, might I find that?

Most video cameras in the consumer or 'prosumer' market use a format like AVC or H.264 video. A whole lot different than SD video with a tape type camcorder.

Since your initial search will likely be for a camcorder and accessories, this post would probably be better in our camcorder forum. Moving you.

I will also change your thread title to better reflect your subject.

Moderator redwudz

Oh, sorry. Thanks, heh.

Anyway, one thing I've been hearing from other places is that DSLR cameras are becoming a bit of thing for recording high quality video. Is this true, and is this worth looking into over a camcorder?

This is honestly the first I've been hearing about DSLR cameras, really. Even while getting my education over the last year, I was under the impression the bigger "camcorder" type cameras were the only good way to go for doing video.

[smrpix]

Because of good lenses and sensors DSLRs can give you amazing pictures for the price. What they lack is good balance, good sound and often, extended running times. They require a lot of extras -- follow focus, external audio recorders, support and stabilization -- to be effective.

At your price point, stick with the best "classic" camcorder you can find.

[Wolfen]

I'm sorry I thought everyone heard of duckduckgo , it's a search engine that doesn't collect info about you're browsing habits like google does.

[redwudz]

I also use DuckDuckGo for my search engine. Most of the others will just give you more ads.

But more on topic, there is a lot of info here in our Camcorders Forum. You might work through a few of the past posts.