Our research group was fortunate to succeed in our application for money to upgrade our video equipment. Now the question is, what should we buy?
A recent discussion on the AnthroDesign list covered a similar topic. People there emphasized the importance of:
- Ability to film in low light
- Battery duration
- Storage capacity
- Ergonomics (grip etc.)
- Audio quality, the ability to attach an external mic.
- Wide angle lens.
- Extended warranty that covers wear, since it’s likely that we will wear cameras out.
- 10x optical zoom.
- Image stabilization. OIS or EIS. OIS is preferable.
- Headphone jack for sound monitoring when using external microphones.
Which Format?
Now is probably a good time to move from standard to high definition video. HDV is the best high definition format for our needs.
The most common recording format now is DV. This is a standard definition format. It is what all our current camcorders use. It is easier to edit on computers, takes less space, and the camcorders are cheaper. However, it is a lower resolution and will likely be superseded.
Currently, there are two main options for high definition recording. These are HDV, and AVCHD. AVCHD is a newer format. It uses a different compression algorithm that can fit more data in a given space while maintaining comparable image quality. The trade-off is that working with the format requires more computer power and is supported by fewer video editing programs. For our purposes, HDV would probably be the better choice.
MiniDV tape is probably the best storage medium for us. Camcorders are now being made with a variety of storage media. In addition to tape-based camcorders, you can buy ones that will record to hard-disk, flash memory or recordable DVD. The newer formats promise to make it simpler to transfer movies from the camcorder to computer and offer the possibility of non-linear access, but these are not so important for our needs. In fact, transferring movies recorded in AVCHD format to be edited in iMovie is still very time consuming, because they need to be transcoded to another compression format. For 60 minutes of video, this transcoding process can take 2 hours or more. Another consideration is that whereas archival ‘just happens’ with tape recording, it takes an extra effort for these other media. Tape is cheap and readily available enough that students can buy their own tapes as they need them.
How will we use them?
We should also consider what we will use the cameras for. Despite the disadvantages of hard disk, or flash disk based camcorders for archival purposes. For making a short video presentation that we are going to share on the web, they are probably very convenient. Here are some suggestions for what we might want to use the cameras for:
- Student projects.
- Field work.
- Workshop recordings.
- Project documentation.
- Vodcasts/Podcasts.
- Taking still photographs (can be useful but not a replacement for a still camera).
Other considerations
- How do we store and manage access to them?
- Additional hardware - batteries, tripods, external microphones?
- Equipment for audio-only recordings?
Links:
One of the posts on the AnthroDesign discussion provided these links. I thought they were quite interesting.
- NYTimes article on the cons of moving away from tape as a storage medium.
- Blog post about high speed cameras, including one soon-to-be-released from casio.
- Article from popular mechanics describing the parts of a camcorder and what one can expect in different price brackets.
I’ve also been looking at the following camcorder review site (I’m sure there are plenty of others.)
Candidate: Canon HV30
Review page from January 2008.
This is an update to the HV20, which was released in 2007. That camera was voted best something of the year by the camcorderinfo site (Review page from March 2007). The price is somewhere around $1000 USD.
- Pros: 24P, 30P (need to check for compatability). Good in low light. MiniDV tapes. HDV format. External microphone jack. Analog to digital conversion ability. Hot accessory shoe.
- Cons: Awkward controls. Difficult to hold. Crappy built-in light.