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We get a lot of questions on our website and from clients about video production. One question
in particular that we get often is what kind of camera should I purchase for my business?
Though we won't tell you what particular camera to purchase, we can make some recommendations
on what to look for when it comes to choosing a quality video camera.
When it comes to cameras there are many different factors and choices to consider. Each camera
will have its own unique features, workflow and price point. The price can range from
a couple of hundred of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, so, it should not be
your lone factor when making a purchasing decision.
So without further ado: here are 7 recommendations to help you choose a professional camera.
1. External Audio Inputs Choosing a camera that has external audio
inputs. This allows us to capture quality audio from a microphone as opposed to using
the built in microphone on the camera. Here you can see we have a mini input, allowing
us to connect any type of external microphone. One this particular camera we have double
XLR inputs. This allows us to connect to separate audio sources and record them to separate
channels. For instance we could have a livelier plugged
into one channel and a shotgun mic plugged into another. On this camera we also have
a switch select a line source or microphone source.
White Balance Controls Having the correct white balance is critical
for capturing the correct color information. Most professional cameras have a manual white
balance setting. This ensures our color temperature stays the same from location to location,
since every time we move it will be necessary to re-white balance.
Some cameras, like this one, allow us the ability to store white balance presets.
Manual Iris / Aperture / Exposure Though some cameras may label these differently,
in theory they're the same. The iris determines how much light is being let into the camera.
Professional cameras allow us to adjust our iris levels thus giving the shooter control
over how much light enters the camera. Having manual control over this ensures our picture
quality isn't being determined by the camera's automatic settings.
Cameras that have a manual iris will probably also have a button called zebra. This works
in conjunction with your iris allowing the shooter to know which areas are too hot or
not bright enough. Gain Control
Gain control allows us to step up or down certain light levels. This particular camera
has three settings for gain. L, M, High. Each step up, adds additional
light into the camera. This could be crucial when your iris is bumped all the way up and
you still need some additional light. Manual Focus
Having manual focus on the camera puts you in control of the sharpness of the picture
no matter what your shooting. If you doing a lot of zooming in and out or moving around,
the last thing you want is the camera guessing at what you're trying to focus on.
Manual Zoom Every video camera has a zoom control rocker.
On this particular camera it looks like this: allowing us to smoothly zoom in and out. Having
the option to change this to manual zoom or servo, gives you the shooter control of your
zooms. Though it may not be as smooth, it does allow us to do very fast zooms in and
out, and it also saves on battery power-if you have those long days out in the field.
Neutral Density Filters ND filters will be critical when shooting
outside because, like the iris and gain, it helps with the amount of light entering the
camera. This cameras has four steps for it's ND filter.
off, 1/4, 1/16 and 1/64th. Every time I bump this up, it knocks down the light level.
So for instance, shooting inside we would have the ND filter off. If it's a bright day
and were shooting outside then we would most likely use 1/16 or 1/64 depending on what
time of the day it is. We hope you found this helpful. For more tips,
subscribe to our you tube channel and I'll see you in the next video.