LESSON 11: WHAT CAMERA DO YOU USE?

When you first start out in film making you may not want to spend to much money on a camera.  I would recommend getting a camera that is at least 1080 HD.  If your like me when you see your video's end result the quality of the video may discourage you from pursuing film making any further.

When I first started I was using a JVC HD camcorder. When I bought it I thought the HD meant High Definition. Well I was wrong because what it really meant was that it had a built in Hard drive for storage. My first film was nothing special of course but the quality turned me away from film making for a bit.

Later I finally gave in and got myself a Canon Vixia HF200 camera. It cost quite a bit more than the JVC, At that time it was around $1000. Now you can get the same camera for about $600

This camera was great for starting out. I got many years of use and create a couple short films and many music videos.  The only problem with this camera was the fact that it wasn't great in low light and there wasn't any Shallow Depth of Field.  But overall a great HD camera.

Shallow Depth of Field is bascally the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image. In other words you can focus on one part of a scene and have the background out of focus.


                                     Canon Vixia was used in the below video

Later this year, I decided to give in and get a professional type camera. I am now using Canon 5D Mark 2 - This camera's takes amazing photos and video.  It cost quite a bit more than the first camera but definitely worth it.  

Another options these days if you don't want to spend to much on your camera. You could always use an iphone - The iphone takes decent video - This is a video to show you what an iPhone can do with the right added effects and used properly.  Note: this video is made by Matthew Pearce.  He used a tripod mount called GLIF

WHAT CAMERA DID YOU USE WHEN YOU STARTED OUT??