Choosing a camera

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I shot this short film on the EX3 and I really liked it as a camera. It has a nice cinematic look (unlike DSLRs, in my opinion) although I think that the footage on the Sony FS100, Canon C300 and Sony F3 have surpassed it in recent years.
 
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What's your budget?

I'd personally go for the Panasonic Varicam 3700, closely followed by the F900, but they're both priced a little differently to the EX3.

And then, for not that much more than the rental of an EX3, you can get a 5dmkii with a full kit of primes and accessories.

You could also probably find a Red One basic package rental with a basic lens for a similar price to the F900 and 3700 rental price.

Just depends on your budget, as well as the look and workflow etc. you want to work with.
 
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In the $350 to $400 day rate cameras listed on that page, you're looking at the Sonys with 1/2" chips (other than the Z1) and the Panasonics at 1/3" chips... What's your lighting package like?

The Panasonic (HVX200) has the better codec (DVCPro HD), but the SonyEX3 has the "better" chips. The Panasonic HPX300 does have comparable performance in the sensor to the EX3, but it's still a 1/3". The HPX300 also has the AVCIntra codec, which completely kills the DVCPro HD and the MPEG2 formats in the HVX200 and EX3.

The Panasonics will be a little more light hungry, and have a slightly deeper Depth of Field. If you can spare the sensitivity and the DOF, then Panasonic HPX300 certainly has the better codec.


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brunerww said:
Desperado - for narrative, I'd rather have a large sensor interchangeable lens camcorder like the FS100 - and it would be less expensive to have one shipped to you from Borrowlenses for 3 days: http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/video/cameras/sony
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Then they'd have to rent glass too.

If you do rent from LensRentals.com, the best camera they have in this price range is the Canon XF300:
http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/video/cameras/canon/canon-xf-300
 
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My advice would be don't spend a stupid amount of money renting gear and trying to do it all yourself. Get onto a DP who has some gear and a sound guy who has some gear and let them help you make your film great.

Give them the money, your end product will be much better.
 
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jax_rox said:
My advice would be don't spend a stupid amount of money renting gear and trying to do it all yourself. Get onto a DP who has some gear and a sound guy who has some gear and let them help you make your film great.

Give them the money, your end product will be much better.
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Yea I could but I want to do this myself and learn a little more about this. I might look for a sound guy though.
 
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DesperadoMan17 said:
I am listening. I just asked how hard can it be. I am already looking for sound guys.
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I wasn't trying to be mean. I didn't elaborate because I figured Alcove or one of the other experienced sound guys could give you better advice than I on sound, but I'll give you a quick summary.

Sound is half the experience. Arguably, good sound is more important than a good image. An audience will forgive you for less than stellar picture, but not bad sound. You will be written off as an amateur for poor sound. Achieving good production sound is not easy. It takes a lot of time to learn and isn't as simple as just handing a mic to a friend. If you have a friend who is willing to learn what it takes to get good sound, then great, go for it! But just sticking a boom pole in their hand and hoping for good sound - not gonna happen. I'm still learning how to get good sound. It's not easy. Get someone who knows what they're doing so you can focus on all the other aspects you're learning, or take the time to learn it, or find a friend who will take the time to learn it, but don't just buy a $50 mic, hand it to a friend and assume you'll get good audio, because you won't.
 
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