camera recomendations please

[fatnfur]

Hi all,
I need to aquire a new vid camera for shooting and showcasing homes. I would like to have a quality end product and it be native 1280 x 720 (youtube's h.d. standard). I also would need to be able to use a wide angle lens/adapter on the camera for recording tight spaces.I might be required to distrubute on dvd if that matters. Would you please make a sugestion for camera choice?
Thanks

[filmboss80]

Is YouTube the only end result? Will you ever want to edit the footage in a professional looking production? What is your spending budget? Lots of unanswered questions here. Your inquiry has been asked countless times on this forum. Have you not done a search here?

For most applications, HDV is more edit-friendly than AVCHD. Canon and Sony make the best HDV cams, IMHO.

[fatnfur]

thx for the reply,
The videos will mostly live on the web for their useful lives. I want to do virtual tours of homes for sale. I will edit them into finished productions via premiere pro. I may need to distrubute a video on dvd but not sure. Walking through a house presents lighting challange especially going from interior shots to looking out of windows etc. I think the wide angle option is going to be a must for home interiors. I have been researching but being a very specific application I thought I would turn to the pro's.
Thanks

[filmboss80]

I have been acquainted with someone who made panoramic virtual tours of homes in the real estate market. He did not use a video camera. Instead, he shot a series of panoramic stills of each room, then stitched them together as 360 degree images in Photoshop and authored interactive viewing features with Adobe Flash. I don't remember all the steps taken -- or all the tools used -- but the real estate page was very successful, and no camcorder video was involved.

[edDV]

thx for the reply,
The videos will mostly live on the web for their useful lives. I want to do virtual tours of homes for sale. I will edit them into finished productions via premiere pro. I may need to distrubute a video on dvd but not sure. Walking through a house presents lighting challange especially going from interior shots to looking out of windows etc. I think the wide angle option is going to be a must for home interiors. I have been researching but being a very specific application I thought I would turn to the pro's.
Thanks

I think you will find HDV format most directly productive with Premiere Pro*. For camcorders you have many price/performance points.

At the low end you have something like the Canon HV30 with wide adapter lens. You will also need a lighting kit.

You need to go much higher in price (~$9000) to get interchangable lenses for better wide angle coverage. Standard definition camcorders like the Canon XL2 give greater lens choice at sub $4000 proce.

Another option since you don't need sync audio is to use video modes in an SLR Digital Camera like the EOS 5D Mark II (~$3000) which allows use of the full range of Canon wide zooms. Editing AVCHD format will be more problematic.

In all cases, lighting the "set" will be equally import to camera choice.


* Premiere Pro is probably overkill to this type of work unless you need heavy effects and is difficult to learn.

[Soopafresh]

Get yourself a steadicam stabilizer type device as well. It'll separate you from the hacks. The Hague MMC is only $150. It'll let you create professional looking shots (once you practice walking with it) - as if you're on a track dolly while walking with the camcorder. Example usage :

http://vimeo.com/843932


http://www.b-hague.co.uk/hague_mini_motion_cam_steadicam_type_camcorder_stabilizer.htm


I like FB80's suggestion for a panorama created by still photos. The HV30 takes still pics as well. You'll possibly want to get in addition to a wide angle lens a Fisheye lens for panoramic shooting. Raynox sells wide angle lenses for the HV30. A tripod would also be useful.

http://www.panoguide.com/

Check out the Hotel Virtual Tour

http://www.easypano.com/virtual-tour-gallery.html#

This one is pretty impressive (you can see the tripod when you pan all the way down):

http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtour/flashpureplayer/

[MJA]

this stuff is soo expansive.

BTW. firefox(3.0.5)kept crashing every time i clicked on "What equipment do I need?"

[Soopafresh]

That might be due to a Quicktime 7.1 plugin bug, assuming you have 7.1 installed. Just guessing. I believe upgrading Quicktime to 7.2 is supposed to take care of it.

[romanstopme]

Ok im not a pro or anything but i love cameras to death most of these people are right. If you are going to make lots of money out of this business then you should totally invest in a high end video camera. But if this is not the type of job where you earn a big living then you should think about getting some thing small. My friend just got one of the Canon Eos 5d Mark II http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=17662 this digital camcorder shoots full 1080 Hd video. The plus is its easy to use it in tight space and it has many interchangeable lenses, including wide angle. its a good camera and plus you don't have to worry about using expensive light kits. Its around $2999 plus or minus another for lights and lenses depending on what you chose

[romanstopme]

also about the picture tours when you take a sires of pictures and you want to put them into one here is a way to do it in photoshop.

[romanstopme]

here is the second step where you can chose what type of photomerge you want to do

[lordsmurf]

I suggest a simple DV camera, if video is required. I think a slideshow of nice still images, set to music, fairs better.

If you need a real estate website created, contact me (via Private Message, PM) for some specific tips.

I've worked with real estate small business before, created some nice stuff for them, and provided them with enough knowledge to eventually do it all themselves.

Doing something fancy all by yourself is admirable and maybe even fun, but realistically the goal is to sell homes and bring in 3-6% sales commissions, right? Remember this before buying a lot of potentially unneeded items (fancy HD cameras), and consider putting the budget to better use.

[fatnfur]

Thanks for all the reply's
I am not a realtor but I am a homebuilder (so pretty much unemployed right now). I don't see this as a big moneymaker but might pay the rent. I went to a sales meeting thurs at a local high end realty office and the 15 or so agents attending really liked the idea of having an alternative to the tradional virtual tour. I offered the video tour @ $275 and got a good response. Obviously this would be suited to higher end homes. I did create a 3 minute demo, (don't laugh, I know I have a long way to go) http://<a class="contentlink" href="http://www.rainfalltexas.com" target="_blank" rel=...ltexas.com</a> with my nephew's powershot s3i. Any way I welcome any comments on the video and as far as camera choice $9k probably dosen't make much sence but $3k might.
Thanks again

[romanstopme]

Hey i took a look at that video and i want to give you some advise or criticism if that's ok. First of all I have seen some professional Realtor videos and in a tour you don't want to be following a person around the house it takes the concentration fro the house and puts part of it onto the person who's giving the tour. Second you want still shots in there also. You don't need to be walking in there just have lots of shoots where you have a wide shot and your panning or zooming in on a specific item like the fire place. After you have lots of footage on both the inside and out side you can start editing. Once you complete your video you can sit down with the Realtor you can do a voice over. This makes the viewer concentrate on the video and never having to see the person walking around the house makes the viewer concentrate on all the aspects of what he sees. Hope this info helps. But other then that your video is good

[Soopafresh]

That's a pretty nice house.

Turn off autogain in the camera's controls. Bring lamps in with you to bounce off the darker walls and to create warm diffused lighting. Be in control of the lighting instead of the other way around. Reliable and consistent looking presentations will get you more business.

I'm with romanstopme regarding recording the realtor. Do a voiceover as opposed to recording the tour guide. Actually, record her comments, then use it as a script for a better sounding voiceover. Like this:

http://www.vimeo.com/2956451

If you have $3K, you can get

$600 Canon HV30
$160 Wide Angle Lens
$100 4 Hour Battery and Charger (you'll thank me one day)
$200 Steadicam http://www.digitalproducer.com/2002/10_oct/reviews/10_07/steadytrackerxtreme.htm
$400 Tripod
$150 Camera Quick Release Mounting plates (you'll thank me one day)
$500 Portable Lighting Kit (you might also want to get some actual floor and table lamps from Ikea so you're not shooting unsightly commercial lighting rigs in certain areas)
$50-$100 Light Meter (this is as much a marketing tool as it is a useful device. People find light meters an instrument of a real professional)
$150 Carrying cases and transport containers