{"id":1253,"date":"2016-07-05T15:00:28","date_gmt":"2016-07-05T21:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelwdean.com\/?p=1253"},"modified":"2016-07-05T15:00:28","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T21:00:28","slug":"low-cost-hi-def-video-gear-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/?p=1253","title":{"rendered":"Low-Cost Hi-Def video gear list"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Canon VIXIA HF200 camera test. Be sure to click on the hi-def setting! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Low-Cost Hi-Def video gear list:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was pretty amazed at how little I needed to spend to put together a gear setup for hi-def filmmaking. What I usually do is get to something late, when the prices have come down, instead of being a first adopter. This setup would have cost about ten grand a few years ago.<\/p>\n

First of all is the Canon VIXIA camera. They list for $1100 bucks, but I found one for $433 (NOW $289!) on Amazon<\/a>. (If that package sells out, there are other places selling them on Amazon for a few dollars more.) This thing is unbelievably small, but shoots hi-def, and is capable of getting a really good look and sound if you take care with the setup.<\/p>\n

Next thing you need is a good microphone. This one is amazing for the price, and it\u2019s what I used in the camera test above\u2026.The Audio-Technica ATR-35S Lavalier Microphone. $17 on Amazon.<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also want to get a 3.5mm Stereo Male to 3.5mm Mono Female Adapter. It doesn\u2019t produce stereo sound (you don\u2019t WANT stereo sound for dialogue in a movie, even Hollywood <\/em>records talking in mono), but it will record your mono mic as two tracks of mono, rather than one track, which will save you a lot of pasting and panning in the editing. Here\u2019s one for five dollars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If your camera does not come with a tripod, I recommend this one from Polaroid, $17.58 on Amazon<\/a>. It folds down and fits snugly in the included soft carrying case.<\/p>\n

For a larger memory card, I recommend this, SanDisk Extreme HD Video 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Memory Card (you\u2019ll need at least Class 4 to do hi-def video, and Class 6, the highest class, is the best.) $64.05 (now $30!) on Amazon<\/a>. Holds over an hour of hi-def video, or nearly two hours at the second-highest camera setting, which is the setting I prefer. It still looks great, and is easier to edit and takes less rendering time.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d recommend getting a second battery, since they only last about an hour before needing recharging (you charge them in the camera). Get the BP-809, $55.14 (now $40) on Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finally, you\u2019ll need something to safely carry your camera in. I got an aluminum briefcase for $25.69 on Amazon<\/a>. I took out the compartments and simply put foam in there. Cut it to where it holds everything snugly without squishing things.<\/p>\n

So far we\u2019ve spent a paltry $625 bucks (if you order all this together on Amazon, shipping should be free.) If you already have a computer with at least four gigs of RAM, you should be able to edit a FEATURE-length film with this setup.<\/p>\n

The Vixia camera comes with a disc that has some video editing software on it, but it\u2019s not very robust, more for editing short YouTube videos than feature films. For feature films I recommend Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 (which I already had). $750 (now 500_ here<\/a>. Not cheap, but it\u2019s the best there is. You can get it for Windows or Mac, and it runs fine on Windows 7, which is what I have.<\/p>\n

For really serious editing of feature-length films (like my latest<\/a>), you\u2019ll want two external hard drives. I recommend these, the Cavalry CAXM Series 1TB. Connects via USB 2, but also includes much-faster eSATA connections, if your computer can handle that. (Mine can, but I had to hook it into the motherboard with the included breakout ports.) on Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

STILLS <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Vixia takes good stills too.<\/p>\n

All in all, a great little camera, and if you want one, I\u2019d recommend you get one before they sell out.<\/p>\n

\u2013Michael W. Dean<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canon VIXIA HF200 camera test. Be sure to click on the hi-def setting! Low-Cost Hi-Def video gear list: I was pretty amazed at how little I needed to spend to put together a gear setup for hi-def filmmaking. What I usually do is get to something late, when the prices have come down, instead of … Continue reading “Low-Cost Hi-Def video gear list”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[245],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mdad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelwdean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}