FILMSinc
Member
Wow, for christmas i got a Canon zr850. It started out as the best camera in the world. Then as i became more advanced. I found out that the zr850, and the entire zr series limits your audio and video options.
NO mic jack
NO compatably with Filters
NO accessory shoe
NO compatably with hoods
and much more.
It is a great camcorder for the beginer, and it is still a great camcorder, but i feel limited
any commets or adds
My camera has a switch between "near" and "far" focus. I started a feature film, and made 4 short films on it. No mic jack or that other stuff. When I get famous and go to hollywood, I'll still shoot with it probably. I'm too lazy to learn a new camera. Why bother? I'll be famous anyway.
Go ahead and laugh now. I will too. LOL
FILMSinc
Member
?????
O.K. that was ..... i dont know but what i do know is that No matter what camera you have is that you need to learn how to work with it. I have been short films 24/7. I need to make a feature film that will get me noticed. And that will get me a couple hundred bucks...... and Stay under a very LOW budget. (see ZERO budget films fourm) Like that will ever happen.
I dont think the manuel foces on the camera isn,t amazing either
P.S. what kind of camera do you have?
I dunno if it's just me or what. But I just googled the model you have, and I can't help but wonder why people buy camcorders that are obviously consumer level and then seem to expect a lot out of the camera. It's not just you, I see this a lot. I mean seriously, look at what pros use, and then look at what you have. What do you expect?
Don't get me wrong. I don't at all think that if you buy good equipment, you're going to be good at making videos. That's not at all what I'm saying. It's that people expect features on consumer products that consumers don't need. Not many average consumers need manual focus, or mic jacks, or even know what a lens hood is. So why expect it on products that are clearly consumer.
I understand you said you got this as a beginner, but became too advanced for it. Everyone progresses; I get that. But to use myself as an example, when I first started video, I knew I was serious about it. So I saved up and threw down a few grand for a GL2, accessories, and a laptop. I too eventually became too advanced, but I realized in the beginning that I was serious about video and made sure not to get a camera that was too consumer, but not too professional either since I was just starting out. You gotta think about the future. Last week I just upgraded to a Sony PD170, but I got it used. Why? Because I know pretty soon I'm going to want to get an HD camera. So why drop so much money on a new camera if I want to get an HD camera sometime soon anyway? See...I thought about the future. I got something that suits me for now, but tried not to create a major setback as far as saving up for HD.
I understand that when I was saving up for my camera I was still in high school and had parents to put food in my stomach and a roof over my head. I realize it may be harder for other people to save up for better stuff. But if you are truly serious about video/film making, I think you'll find a way to make it happen. I mean, if you're a typical american, I'm sure you've got a bunch of useless shit around your house. Sell that and get some better equipment or something. Or ride a bike or take the bus to save gas money. Or quit smoking. Buy generic food and don't eat at restaurants. Whatever your situation is, I'm sure there is a solution to saving money.
And as far as you guys wanting to be Hollywood filmmakers, I'm totally for people having big dreams and working hard to get to where they want to go. But also realize that you don't have to work in Hollywood to make good money. And to use myself as an example once again, I'm 21 years old and currently working on a project for Reebok, which is something not many 21 year olds have an opportunity to do. Remember how I just mentioned that I'm saving up for an HD camera? I'll have that in no time, but that's besides the point. What I'm saying is, you don't need to be George Lucas to make good money.
ps. sorry if i'm coming off as cocky by using myself as an example too. I'm just trying to provide some real-life examples.
Reebok? Nice! I'm with the Democratic National Convention here in Denver. It's not NEARLY as great as it sounds. My boss just registered www.denverdemocraticnationalconvention.com before the committee. We're building our website, then trying to sell it. also doing buttons and bumper stickers.
Hey, FILMSinc! my boss used to date Goldwyn's granddaughter of Metro Goldwyn-Meyer fame. Maybe we can hook you up when your done editing. we're making a feature film on sony handycams of a guy we know. then try to get it to Hollywood through Goldwyn's granddaughter. or maybe it was his daughter? LOL
D0n
Member
the canon zr500 had manual focus, and mic input and was about $350.00 cdn a while back. (sucked in low light though)
FILMSinc
Member
Thats Really funny, and it just might work.
A feature film using handycams, or a film by the topic of handycams. LOL
Thats Really funny, and it just might work. A feature film using handycams, or a film by the topic of handycams. LOL
Wasnt' the TV seriesHomicide filmed almost exclusively with handhelds and lightweight cameras?
ralck
Member
I thought the movie Open Water was filmed with VX2100's as well.
FILMSinc
Member
No way. That is so cool. But they had an advantage, a mic jack. and other features.
I'm pretty sure 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks later was shot with Canon XL cameras.
FILMSinc
Member
Well canon Xl cameras ROCK. and they are pro cameras
ralck
Member
One option for you, since there isn't a mic input on the 850, would be to get a digital audio recorder. They have things like minidisc solutions out there (and probably flash or hdd based solutions too). I saw one blog about a guy who got a minidisc recorder, a beachtek adapter, and a nice XLR shotgun mic. If you did this, when you got a new camera you could use the mic and/or other accessories with it. I'm not sure how well it would work, but you could probably use a laptop with something like Audacity to record your audio if you wanted.
It's pretty easy to do if you record your audio digitally on a good quality recorder. Just make a visual/audio cue when you start filming/recording audio to sync up in an editor. You often see clapboards in Hollywood that have info like which reel, which take, which scene, etc, but you could do something just as similar by clapping your hands.
I don't have much experience with this stuff (I've only read about it and one guy showed me his setup really quickly- a DJ I used to work for), but I'm sure others on the forum have experience with stuff like this, so hopefully they can chime in. Might just be an option for you until you can get a cam with mic inputs.
FILMSinc
Member
That couldent have been better said. I read about clapping your hands in Filmaking for dummies once, then just syncing them up later. And about useing a small recorder for audio on a Videomaker video. Yet that stuff cost just about as much as a new camcorder 3 times better than mine. Anything cheap?
