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HD Camcorder for Filming Theater

post #1 of 7
10/17/09 at 8:42am
Thread Starter 
I am looking to upgrade to an HD camcorder for filming the Amateur and Semi-pro plays my wife directs.

Good low light recording and sound are the top requirements.

I would like to keep the price below 1,000 for either the camcorder if it has a good built in mic, or camcorder plus a mic.

It must be able to record 90 minutes on one piece of media (so I can record a full act of a long play without missing anything because I am changing the media).

Ease of converting the format to be burned on DVDs is also important, since we give these out to the actors and most of them do not have high def playback equipment yet.

Compatibility with either Adobe Premier (latest version) or Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12 or later (if there is one). Since we use those for editing.

Also since theater lighting is often colored and we want it to look as close as possible to what it actually looked like live. The white balance needs to be controllable, so it does not try to convert everything to looking like it was done in white light. Don't know if this is a problem with camcorders, but it is in some digital cameras.
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post #2 of 7
11/23/09 at 9:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fluteplr View Post

I am looking to upgrade to an HD camcorder for filming the Amateur and Semi-pro plays my wife directs.

Good low light recording and sound are the top requirements.

I would like to keep the price below 1,000 for either the camcorder if it has a good built in mic, or camcorder plus a mic.

It must be able to record 90 minutes on one piece of media (so I can record a full act of a long play without missing anything because I am changing the media).

Ease of converting the format to be burned on DVDs is also important, since we give these out to the actors and most of them do not have high def playback equipment yet.

Compatibility with either Adobe Premier (latest version) or Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12 or later (if there is one). Since we use those for editing.

Also since theater lighting is often colored and we want it to look as close as possible to what it actually looked like live. The white balance needs to be controllable, so it does not try to convert everything to looking like it was done in white light. Don't know if this is a problem with camcorders, but it is in some digital cameras.

I am in a very similar situation and looking for almost the exact same type of equipment. Have you had any luck in your search yet that you could share ?
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post #3 of 7
11/23/09 at 10:33am
Your best bet is a hard drive camera, high Definition (cos MPEG2 SD camcorders suck), the larger the image sensor the better. In that price range, the best you will see is 1x1/3''. So I would recommend the Sony SR12 or XR500. You could even record it in HD, and if by chance somebody requests an HD file or Blu-ray of the recording, you have it. There is also a stereo mic input. You could get a Beachtek XLR adaptor to get sound from a mixing console in to the camera - just be sure to monitor the audio with headphones. Also make sure if you do this, the sound guy doesn't cut the mics in between scenes (you want to pick up a bit of ambient noise from the audience - applause, laughing etc).
I almost recommend buying an older Standard Def camera with XLR audio, but these will be higher maintenance, and finding large DVCAM tapes will be getting harder to get and/or expensive.
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post #4 of 7
11/23/09 at 11:32am
Just get that zoom recorder to hang onto that mixing console, same money as the xlr adapter. And no need for long XLR cables dragging on the camera.

Why HDD, even 32 gig flash camera's can do just under three hours of continuous recording. Just throw in a flash card for anything longer. You will need to get a big battery though as the stock ones generally only last 45-60 minutes.

The Canon consumer camera's all provide for manual whitebalance, Eric Jut and or Chevypower should able to to tell you wich of the Sony's do.

But a complete set-up for 1000 bucks, so xlr adaptor/recorder, big batteries, and a microphone will be hard.
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post #5 of 7
11/23/09 at 6:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by donaldk View Post

Why HDD, even 32 gig flash camera's can do just under three hours of continuous recording. Just throw in a flash card for anything longer. You will need to get a big battery though as the stock ones generally only last 45-60 minutes.

I'm fully in agreement with your point but just wanted to note that the times you quote are actually understated.

The 16GB chip you could put into a Sony CX12 was good for about 110-115 minutes of video at the highest resolution and bit rate. The stock battery was good for filming soccer on a tripod with no zooming and one continuous field of view for the same time. (I've reached that level of recording maybe 5 times.) Sony documentation notes that "typical recording" (lots of zoom and movement) may almost halve the battery's continuous recording time.

The published number for a CX500V 32GB internal chip is that it can hold up to 3 hours 45 minutes of the highest quality video. The 64GB CX520V can hold 7 hours 40 minutes of the same type of video. The largest Sony battery is rated at 430 minutes continuous recording time and 215 minutes "typical recording time".
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post #6 of 7
11/23/09 at 8:06pm
The Sony's are limited to the second highest AVCHD profile, so I was quoting the highest bitrate in AVCHD, 21 Mbit/s average, peak at 24Mbit/s including audio. The Canon's of this bitrate, Canon quotes a max of 2 hours and 55 minutes. The level the Sony's use has a maximum bitrate of only 17 Mbit/s, so 24 is almost 50% over the Sony limit.
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post #7 of 7
11/24/09 at 9:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by donaldk View Post

The Sony's are limited to the second highest AVCHD profile, so I was quoting the highest bitrate in AVCHD, 21 Mbit/s average, peak at 24Mbit/s including audio. The Canon's of this bitrate, Canon quotes a max of 2 hours and 55 minutes. The level the Sony's use has a maximum bitrate of only 17 Mbit/s, so 24 is almost 50% over the Sony limit.

Got it. More data recorded, fewer minutes. I'm still trying to puzzle out from forums and reviews whether standard scenarios make any significant use of the 24mbs mode. Kind of like wondering whether a 20MP photo is truly more useful in standard still scenarios than a 10MP photo.
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