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6th May 2013

What kind of camera do I need to shoot a music video?

posted in Entertainment |

Question by Elly Mercury: What kind of camera do I need to shoot a music video?
I’m looking for a high quality video camera to shoot rock music videos with for my band. I was hoping to get something that also shoots high quality stills for the album cover and the inside album art.

Is it wise to get a two in one camera for what I want to do? Or would it be more reasonable (cheaper) to get two separate cameras?

What would something like this cost? I don’t really know anything about cameras so I don’t know what a reasonable price is for something like this.

What do I look for in a camera that makes high quality stills and videos?
I appreciate all the answers I have gotten so far, but they all sound like professional jargon to me. I think I made it very clear that I don’t know alot about cameras. Can someone please give me an answer in plain English?

Best answer:

Answer by Mmm J
It depends on your budget and the quality you are looking for.

In my opinion, camcorders are designed to be camcorders – still image capture is a “convenience feature”. Digital still cameras – including dSLRs were designed to capture stills and video+audio capture is a “convenience feature”.

Recording loud audio generally means some sort of manual audio gain control is needed. If that is not used, then the camera’s/camcorder’s automatic audio gain control may not be able o keep up. This results in recording muddy audio with static (when the audio peaks).

And lets say video is being recorded during a song – but a still is desired. The video capture device is busy… Having a camcorder and a digital still image capture device seems preferable.

Camcorders at the low end have small lenses and imaging chips. They cannot record decent video under low light conditions. as camcorders’ prices increase, the lens and imaging chip get larger and go from having no manual audio gain control to a very simple “normal” or “mic attenuator” ( for loud audio) setting – and finally, a manual thumbwheel audio gain control on the outside of the camcorder.

If you opt for the less expensive camcorder with small lens and imaging chip, then expect to pay for lighting. Bigger lens and imaging chip usually means less lighting will work.

Pocket camcorders and point & shoot cameras go up to about $ 200.
Entry level consumer cams up to about $ 500.
Mid range consumer cams and dSLRs (perhaps no lens – it depends) up to about $ 900
High end consumer cams up to about $ 1,300
“Prosumer” cams up to about $ 2,800
Pro grade cams up to about ~$ 80,000

Add in a tripod or two, cases, cables, video lights, stands, batteries from the camcorder manufacturer, lights, mics… It would be easy to spend $ 4,000 without trying very hard… Then you may need a computer upgrade for editing and buy a video editor (the bundled ones are not very good).

The last “music video” I shot was with my Sony HDR-FX1. Stills were captured by a Canon PowerShot AS3300.

What do you think? Answer below!

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There are currently 2 responses to “What kind of camera do I need to shoot a music video?”

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1 On May 6th, 2013, Palladini said:
HD Camcorders and DSLR Cameras interpolate the video, which means of every 25 frames of video, 4 or 5 frames are taken by the lens assembly; the other frames in between these are filled in by the camcorder inner circuitry, thus giving you not true video. It looks like this -one frame from the lens assembly, 7or 8 from the electronic circuitry, one frame from the lens assembly, 7or 8 from the electronic circuitry, one frame from the lens assembly, 7or 8 from the electronic circuitry, one frame from the lens assembly, 7or 8 from the electronic circuitry, from front to back of the video. Near impossible to edit, even when you have the Multi port processor computer with the big 1GB Graphics card and a Sound card that is required to edit, view, watch and work with the files these camcorders produce.

Consumer Level HD Camcorders and DSLR Cameras have 4 problems. 1) Blurry, fuzzy, out of focus areas closely around people in videos taken by consumer level HD camcorders. 2) Any movement, even a wave or lifting an arm, while in front of a recording Consumer Level HD Camcorder and DSLR Cameras, results in screen ghosts and artifacts being left on the video track, following the movement. Makes for bad video, sports videos are unwatchable. 3) These Consumer Level HD Camcorders and DSLR Cameras all have a habit of the transferred to computer files are something you need to convert, thus losing your HD quality, to work with your editing software. 4) Mandatory maximum record times – 1 hour, 30 minutes, 8 minutes, 3 minutes – four different times advertised as maximum record time for some Consumer Level HD Camcorders and DSLR Cameras. No event I have ever been to is that short. Either take multiple camcorders and DSLR Cameras or pack up with out getting the end of the event on video.

MiniDV is currently the most popular format for consumer digital camcorders. MiniDV camcorders are typically more affordable than their HDD and DVD counterparts. Each MiniDV tape will typically hold an hour of footage at normal recording speed and quality. MiniDV tapes are available for purchase at not only electronic and camera stores, but also at drugs stores and grocery stores, making them easy to find while your on vacation. There are literally hundreds of MiniDV camcorders available; both in standard and high-definition. And add the fact that to get a HD camcorder that could produce better video quality footage, one would have to spend in excess of $ 3500 for that camcorder that could produce higher quality video.http://simplevideoediting.com/learn/part1_camcorder_choices.htm

http://simplevideoediting.com/learn/part2_connect_camcorder.htm

http://usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/camcorders/consumer_camcorders/vixia_hv40#Overview

posted on May 6th, 2013 at 3:53 am
2 On May 6th, 2013, Robt said:
“I think I made it very clear that I don’t know alot about cameras.” Well Well Well, Do you have any idea of what your budget is then? I guess that it will not be a great sum so have a look at this.
http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/q2hd This is at the lower end of the price spectrum so start here and work your way up.

posted on May 6th, 2013 at 3:54 am