What Video or Still Camera Do You Use?

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by El Vagabundo

SANYO Xacti VPC-CA9

There is no better camera on the market for the 100 bucks you pay for it!

While I still havent found one as cheap as you say I have found them for $295-00

Digital Cameras & Accessories - Citiwide Online - Sanyo VPC-CA9 CA9 Camcorder

But I have to ask, as this only has a 5X optical zoom and is waterproof to 1.5m, why would you not get one of these instead ?

Sanyo Xacti WH1 for $321
With a massive 30x Optical zoom and waterproof to 3m
AND its yellow

Sanyo Dual Camera Xacti WH1 720P HD Underwater Camcorder - 30x Optical Zoom - Yellow - VPC-WH1YL - Buy.com


I currently have one of these Kodak EasyShare CX7330 which has been OK for what we needed to date, but am looking to upgrade into something like the sanyo.

I take it that the sanyo will give better photo quality?

[Fishman_Tx]

I'm old school. I still love my Pentax K1000 SLR. Photography the hard way!

[Tom Spohn]

If you like the idea of a small go anywhere shock resistant, waterproof camera that also takes good pics and video look at the Panasonic DMC-ts1.
Olympus Tough 8000 vs. Panasonic TS1 vs. Fujifilm Z33WP in Waterproof Shootout

[Stillraining]

That aint no pocket camera...1500.00....talk about measurebater....Just kidding..just kidding..

Nice work you guys at your day jobs cool video's...its amazing the depth of knlowalge and talent brought to the table on these forum's...gets intimidating to post sometimes.

EL V..How the heck do you upload that quality to U tube..I cant do it..

[El Vagabundo]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

That aint no pocket camera...1500.00....talk about measurebater....Just kidding..just kidding..

Nice work you guys at your day jobs cool video's...its amazing the depth of knlowalge and talent brought to the table on these forum's...gets intimidating to post sometimes.

EL V..How the heck do you upload that quality to U tube..I cant do it..

Its all in the compression, I use a Mac so I work with Final Cut pro to edit and compressor, PM me and I can give you a tutorial real fast... Its easy...

[Chipg]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

That aint no pocket camera...1500.00....talk about measurebater....Just kidding..just kidding..

Nice work you guys at your day jobs cool video's...its amazing the depth of knlowalge and talent brought to the table on these forum's...gets intimidating to post sometimes.

EL V..How the heck do you upload that quality to U tube..I cant do it..

Thanks No, I'm not here to be a measurebator, I want to leave most (I will be editing on a boat) my work behind when on a boat in a EASY no stress way or atleast I want to make it as simple and as fun as I can.

Here's the thing for me, with the GH1 I can use it for a still dslr, it's about half the size of my pro dslr (that I want to leave at home), it shoots awesome video so I can leave behind my pro video cameras that are very large and a pain in the arse to use on a boat.

A 'consumer' video cam will cost around $800, a 'comsumer' dslr will cost around $700 so I get both for the same price in a smaller package than a D70 or my 5Dii. Battery life is really good so my kit would be the GH1, 1 or 2 extra batterys and maybe 1 or 2 extra lenses, polarizer, some filters, a really small carbon fiber tripod that can get wet and an underwater housing, I want to keep it small, light weight and simple. The audio (from the cheap internal mic) isn't very good but they make an external mic for it that makes it better than most consumer camcrders.

I did not shoot this video but here is a link to see how awesome it looks, it's a sample travel video from Italy, also look at his other videos (on the right side of the page) they are all shot with this camera, Panasonic GH1.

Highlights of Italy HD on Vimeo

Sounds like people have a lot of camera gear on their boats, it's what I'm trying to avoid but will supplement this with a small $200-$300 pocket cam, probably a waterproof one.

[El Vagabundo]

Ill stay on the subject here and still answer a couple of post I saw..

It always makes me laugh when I see people that say "Content" is the key or that you can take great shots with a pinhole camera. that is true when professionally speaking... But some people have no idea about "content", the rule of thirds, lighting or even what half the buttons do on a camera.

D40,70,80,200,300 all have pretty much the same sensor, the difference is in the buttons and functions, a d200 or 300 you see the button and press it, on the other models you have to press a series of buttons to get your desired function. most digital cameras all have the same functions but the Nikon product has some awesome features that most "Hobbyist" wont know about.

Those "Automatic" functions on cheaper cameras SUCK, the reality of of all is that you have to tell the camera what you want in order for it to shoot what "Your" eyes see.

IF YOU PAID 5 BUCKS FOR IT EXPECT THE SAME QUALITY OF PHOTOS. unless of course you understand the particular cameras strong and weak points. If the camera shoots well in low light or the white balance always leans towards the warmer side etc...

If you just want to point and shoot but still get good results you need a good camera and decent glass. I have never liked the canon line but the glass is great, If you buy a Canon or Nikon stick with Canon or Nikon Glass. If you buy that cheaper glass expect some really soft crappy shots. Unless of course you want that effect.

What you will be using your camera for is what really needs to be considered here. it would be rude and out of pocket to suggest you get the cheapest "waterproof" camera on the market if you plan on submitting to magazines. I've shot with a 30,000 dollar hasselblad with a digital back for magazine shoots, mostly Medium format stuff. but that would be over kill for the blogger,Facebook, Twitter crowd.
Bottom line.. Nikon or Canon with the corresponding glass, 50mm 85mm 150mm and a 300mm for those great Dolphin shots.... thats a nice rounded bag! add a monopod,rubber and waterproof enclosure ... if you want to really dazzle um add a flash and that should be good for any CRUISER bag. If you are in fact in the "BUSINESS" then you wouldn't need the advice from this thread anyways.

also dont count out the old iPhone for some kool flicks. I use it for my backup camera and also have the Navionics charts for a GPS which also uploads pictures and your position to facebook.

EL V

[Chipg]

Stillraining,

Most the cheap video editing programs don't have very 'good' compression that's needed to make a high quality video in a small file size for the internet, another reason to spend a little more and also try to find a used one on eBay.

If your camera shoots interlaced video you should deinterlace it for the internet or you'll see lines through it, computer monitors scan in a progressive format so if you have a 60i (i = interlaced) setting on your camera you will be better off with 24p or 30p (p = progressive) for the internet. 60i is fine for a dvd you burn to watch on a tv set and so is 24p or 30p, 60i is the news / reality tv look, 24p is the movie look but has a lot of strobing if you move the camera around fast so for a guy on a boat shooting a travel video with lots of movement and making internet videos 30p is probably the best way to go IMO. If your camera only shoots 60i don't run out and buy a new one you can remove the interlacing with decent editing software and convert it to 30p, just check your output settings in your editor.

I have a feeling by the end of this thread everyone will be taking sweet videos and pictures

[Tropic Cat]

I've used a Canon EOS digital Rebel for a few years and not only does it take great photos (see my web site), it survived a lightning it to the boat in perfect working order.

For me that says it all.

[anglooff]

I recently bought a Panasonic DMC-FX37K 10MP Digital Camera to replace a somewhat battered fujifilm camera.A friend of mine is a professional photographer and his advice was buy the lens not the camera and recommeded the above as it has a leica lens and interesting features for a smaller/pocket camera. There were considerable deals on refurbished-year guarantee deals and I bought mine for around $170USD with an 8MG card and extra battery.

I must say I have been extremely impressed with its performance to date and highly recommend it.

Regards

Alan

[Stillraining]

Wow!..very impressive..that guy has an eye as well...Question.. you think he uses a tri pod for everything or is there an awsome VR built into that camera...everything looks so rock solid.

Oh and by the way thanks for making me re-thinki my kit now...dang nab you anyway..

[Chipg]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

Wow!..very impressive..that guy has an eye as well...Question.. you think he uses a tri pod for everything or is there an awsome VR built into that camera...everything looks so rock solid.

Oh and by the way thanks for making me re-thinki my kit now...dang nab you anyway..

The Italy video most of it was locked down, lots of examples of footage from the GH1 camera here: Search videos for 'panasonic gh1' on Vimeo
Some have been color corected (modified) in post but you can type in any camera model on vimeo and it will pull up the videos providing the people said what make and model it was shot on, I have a bigger Canon 5dii dslr that shoots video but it's twice the size as this cam and cost $1500 more, the quality is about the same, 99.9% of normal peole couldn't tell the difference.

Use what you already have, remeber this camera is avchd so a pain in post for most people, you will have to remove pulldown and convert the footage to an easy to edit format if you don't have a high horespower computer.

Not bad though for a small $1500 dslr still / video cam that shoots 1080 hd and 720p at up to 60 frames per second in 720 so you can have slo mo shots of waves crashing on the rocks.

There's really no wright or wrong, it's just a matter of budget and what fits your style / needs.

What video camera do you shoot with now?

[Chipg]

Stillraining, here is a video shot by a guy in a little runabout boat heading down a canal. It's not a 'great' video but watch it because that's what this little cam is all about, a little run n' gun cam that delivers high quality images that you can take almost anywhere, it's very small and the performance you get is really good. There are better video's out there but I choose this one because it really defines how you can use it.

GH1 Test Rondvaart Breda on Vimeo

[rusky]

I use an Olympus 7meg. Its waterproof (and shockproof) to 5m and can video.

[defjef]

Good thread topic, I hope to read lots of well thought out responses.

Years ago I adapted the point and shoot digital small format camera. For my use this was super. I could see the results instantly, store them on the PC and not have to have film developed (or buy film) and could easily crop the image. I loved the cost and flexibility and the immediacy of them. It was a 1MP then 3MP the 5MP Olypus and now I am using a 7MP Panasonic Luminex.

The larger LCD is handy, but the files are getting quite large and to send them I have to save copies in a reduced file size.

It does short vids, which I have used on occasion, but have not mastered this. I've never had a dedicated video camera.

I find exposure control the main problem. I have difficulty with it in some light situations. I am not sure if it is my fault (not know the technology) or if the technology itself is limited. I get a fair amount of poorly exposed or out of foocus shots. But I get many that are wonderful too.

I use it to document work, and for snap shots. I take it with me whenever I go out. I began actually doing this less as I can use my cell phone camera for this, but the quality is way down and there is no flash etc.

The worse part of digital cameras is the slow shutter speed response. You snap for a shot only to discover that the instant passed before the shutter opened to grab it. I think you don't have this problem with the high end SLR cameras.

I don't baby the camera, but I don't manhandle it either. It's held up for years. I like the wide angle feature, in favor of longer telephoto focal length.

I can't even imagine what 14 MP might be like. But the compact size is a real plus and these point and shoot digitals have lots to offer. I think they're great.