The video cameras I use for filmmaking are about the size of a shoe box for size 12 shoes. When I bring one of these mammoth cameras to a social or school or sports event, people stuff their business card in my shirt pocket and tell me they’ll “take a DVD”. And it might not be so bad if they meant they would pay for a copy, but no, they mean they’ll take a DVD. And after several years of working as the “free” event videographer simply because my camera of choice was bulky, I’ve had enough. It’s time for a compact camera.
Oh, there are other reasons. There’s carrying the camera through security and onto an airplane, where I get to sit resting my chin on my knees for the entire flight so that I don’t kick the lens. On vacation, there’s the eternal recurring question: do I expose the camera to sand and soda that might destroy it, or do I leave it in the room where it might be stolen? There’s the body-building question, too. Do I carry my six pounder around my neck for the whole day or over my shoulder? And should I take the pain killer in advance, so I don’t notice the strap cutting through my shoulder, or should I take it at the end of the day when the damage is done?
So, I headed off to the consumer electronics store, and, for the first time since Hi8 was new, went looking for a handycam, instead of a filmmaking tool. What surprised me, and I think is going to surprise you, is that I found both items in one package the size and color of a can of soda.
This brings new options for guerilla shooting. (I’ve literally pretended to sip from the top of this camera and onlookers didn’t notice that it wasn’t a can of soda.)
If you are looking for a handycam that you can use for family events and vacations, and that at the same time will function as a full-fledged professional filmmaking tool – all for around $1000 – then read on.
You’ve been to the camera counter recently, haven’t you? There are dozens of digital cameras on the market today that shoot video, and another dozen video cameras that shoot stills. The main difference between them seems to be whether they are shaped like a deck of cards or a can of spray paint, and whether the “go” button is red or silver. Oh, and the video cameras are all black and silver, while the still cameras now come in colors to match fake jewelry.
So I’m standing in front of a wall of these gems absent-mindedly reading the specs on each video camera. And then I read: “Full 1920x1080 High Definition. 24 frame per second. Cinema Gamma mode. Cinema Color mode. Recording medium: memory cards.”
What? Someone must have misplaced the description note card. Certainly these are filmmaking features I’d associate with a $3000-$5000 pro camera. This card belongs up on the expensive shelf with the heavy cameras. So I compare the model number with the camera on display. And both say “Canon VIXIA HF10”.
I think you can imagine what happened next. I picked up the camera and stared at it for a few moments, as all of the doubts streamed into my mind. After all, I’ve looked at a lot of video cameras before and written a number of equipment reviews for MicroFilmmaker. As such, I know where these little video cameras fail as filmmaking tools. And as each doubt crept into my mind the camera seemed to move further away from me across the room until in my imagination it seemed to be on the opposite side of the store.
Before I could assess this camera as a filmmaking tool, and compare it against the Canon XH A1 and the Panasonic HVX200, I was going to have to deal with these doubts. A dozen of them occurred to me in that instant. And each one could be a deal-killer. Allow me to share my concerns with you:
- Full HD Resolution
So many video cameras can’t really record 1920x1080 that “full” is often a lie.
- Card Capacity / Video Rate
If you can only record 4 minutes of video on a card, it’s useless.
- Battery Life
If the battery is expended in 3 minutes recording in “full HD” then it’s useless.
- Conversion to Editable Format
It could take 40 minutes to convert 4 seconds of highly compressed video to MOV or AVI. 4 gig in a highly compressed non-editable format could become 40 gig on conversion.
- White Balance
If you can’t take a manual white balance, then you can’t color correct or edit clips.
- Focus
If you can’t disable autofocus, then you can’t compose a decent shot.
- Exposure Control
If you can’t control/freeze exposure, the result will look like amateur home video.
- Image Quality / Lens
The sensor might be HD, but if the lens isn’t, then the sensor doesn’t matter.
- Gamma
Do the highlights and shadows have detail, like film, or just fall off an edge?
- Color
Is the color rendition similar to film, or does it look like a cheap video game?
- Reverse Telecine: True 24p
Can you actually pull out the original 24 progressive frames, or does the compression make it difficult or impossible to get to 24p? If it’s 24p permanently stuck in 60i, then the 24p is basically a gimmick.
- Stabilization
With a camera this small, stabilization is critical. Optical Image Stabilization that doesn’t kill the image detail is a must.
