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Camera Features
Once you’ve narrowed down your choices to a few camera models that offer the quality and lens features that you want, you can begin assessing other camera features to try to narrow your choice further. As a filmmaker, your requirements are different from the casual home user (see Figure 4.11), so examine each camera’s features carefully.
Camera Body Types
Digital video cameras range in size from portable pocket cameras all the way up to large, shoulder-mounted units. Choosing a particular camera body involves balancing features and shooting style with cost.
Smaller cameras typically lack connectors, such as HDMI video output or audio jacks (more about audio jacks in Chapter 8,
“Production Sound.”) They usually don’t have as many manual features, and they practically never include such niceties as lenses with aperture and focus markings, sharpening controls, and refined image-quality adjustments.
On the other hand, small size makes a camera easier to carry and ideal for surreptitious shooting. For documentaries, a low-profile camera might help you to get candid footage (nothing shuts up a timid interview subject faster than sticking a big lens in his or her face), or to shoot clandestinely in locations that wouldn’t normally allow a camera.
On the other hand, you simply won’t be able to get the beautiful shots that you see in greatlooking feature films with a consumer-level camera.
As you look at cameras, don’t ignore the camera’s physical feel. To get the footage you need, you must be able to move the camera with great precision. If a camera is too heavy (or light) or too bulky for you to pan and tilt comfortably, you may not be able to get the shots you want. The camera’s weight can also have budgetary consequences, as a heavier camera will require a sturdier—and therefore more expensive—tripod.
nPocket cameras. Tiny point-and-shoot cameras, like the one in Figure 4.11, sacrifice quality for size, but they are convenient and simple to use. They typically cost $200 or less.
nConsumer-grade camcorders. Handheld camcorder models are a little bigger than pocket cameras and are designed to fit comfortably in your hand. They usually have a single chip and offer flip-out LCD displays, but lack manual override, external microphone connectors, and other advanced features. Prices range from $200–1,000 (see Figure 4.23).
nProfessional camcorders. Entry-level pro cameras feature a relatively light-weight camera body (1–2 lbs), usually have three chips, external connectors, and offer lots of manual control. They typically range from $2,000–5,000 (refer to Figure 4.12).
Figure 4.11
Pocket-sized cameras are portable and easy to use, but they lack the features and image quality of higher-end cameras.
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Figure 4.12
The JVC GY-HM100 is an entry-level professional handheld camcorder.
nProfessional shoulder-mount cameras. Larger shoulder-mount cameras sport three chips for better image quality, and they can weigh 10 lbs or more. The heavier weight makes for easier handheld shooting and smooth, steady camera moves. They are more comfortable to hold for a long period of time because the weight is distributed to your shoulder. They start at around $5,000 and go up as high as $30,000 (see Figure 4.14).
nDigital cinema cameras. Digital cinema cameras like the RED One and the Arri Alexa are built to handle lots of added-on hardware and to support big lenses. They can shoot raw, uncompressed video with a resolution of 2K or higher. Prices range from $20,000 for the RED and over $50,000 for most other models (shown in Figure 4.5).
nDSLR cameras. The main reason that people are so excited about DSLR cameras that shoot full HD is that they are relatively cheap (under $3,000), and yet they offer high image quality and are relatively full-featured, at least in terms of image control. They are also harder to use than a video camera because the DSLR camera body is not designed for shooting motion video. So, while the initial price tag is low, you might find yourself spending a lot of extra money to make up for deficiencies in the SLR design (see Figure 4.24). More on this later in this chapter and in Chapter 10.
nSpecialty cameras. Whether you need to shoot underwater, shoot at high frame rates, or shoot with a tiny Bluetooth cam mounted on a remote control helicopter drone, there are lots of unique consumer-level cameras out on the market that offer special capabilities that you can’t get anywhere else.
n3D cameras. The newest item on this list, 3D cameras use two lenses to record two separate images that work together to create a single image that looks more like what we see in real life (see Figure 4.13).
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Figure 4.13
3D cameras like the Panasonic HDC-SDT750 use two lenses to create an image that looks more like what we see in real life.
WHAT TO WATCH
Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a documentary by Werner Herzog about the 30,000-year-old artwork found in a the Chauvet cave in France. The film begins with an amazing aerial shot over a vineyard, rising up to the face of a cliff where the cave is located. Later in the movie, the specialty camera and rig are revealed. Also, due to the tight spaces in the cave, you can see a lot of how the movie crew had to work under extraordinary circumstances.
Rent or Buy?
When it comes to cameras, there is always the possibility of renting a higher-end camera if you can’t afford to buy one. After all, you may be only planning to shoot for a couple weeks and then not again for several months. If so, renting may make more sense for you. Be aware that to rent higher-end cameras and other gear, you’ll probably need liability insurance.
WHAT TO WATCH
Tiny Furniture was shot entirely with a Canon 5d DSLR camera.
WHAT TO WATCH
The Social Network was shot entirely with the RED One camera.
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Manual Controls
The most important feature for the serious videographer is the ability to manually override the camera’s default factory settings. Controls for manually setting the camera’s focus, aperture, shutter speed, audio levels, and white balance are essential for flexible shooting.
The problem with automatic mechanisms is that they’re not too smart, and they have no artistic flair. Rather, they are designed to produce a good picture under common, ideal shooting situations. In other words, if you are shooting something like your family on vacation in Hawaii in bright daylight, it will look great, but if you’re trying to get a moody shot of a woman standing in the shadows in front of a bright window, you’re probably not going to be able to get the look you want unless you use a camera that allows you to manually override the camera’s default settings and control the iris yourself, like the one shown in Figure 4.14.
Figure 4.14
Higher-end shoulder-mount cameras like the JVC GYHM790U provide a full set of manual controls, pro-level audio inputs, high-quality progressive scan modes, and more.
Focus
With manual focus controls, you can choose what to focus on and compose your shots the way you choose (see Figure 4.15). Similarly, manual aperture controls (sometimes referred to as iris or exposure) let you compensate for difficult lighting situations such as harsh backlighting.
Lower-end cameras typically provide electronic manual focus controls that are accessed through a menu system or from buttons on the camera’s control panel. Higher-end cameras will have lens-mounted rings just like the rings on a 35mm still camera.
Lower-end cameras usually don’t have values marked on their focus or aperture controls; instead, they display simple slider graphics in the camera’s viewfinder. While this is effective, the lack of quantifiable settings can make it difficult to get the same settings from shot to shot. Such electronic controls are not necessarily suited to changing aperture or focus on the fly, making it difficult to do rack focus or pull focus shots. (See Chapter 7 and Chapter 10 for more information on focus and depth of field.)