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On SmashWordsTop 10 Essential Equipment for Indie Filmmakers: Part I – the Camera
If you are just starting out as an indie or guerilla filmmaker and you are completely baffled as to where to get started in regards to equipment and gear, you are not alone. We’ve all been there. Don’t let the guys on the various indie / DIY/ DV filmmaking forums try to convince you other wise, no one starts out knowing everything about shooting an indie film. However, the information on what is the best equipment can be a bit difficult to come by.
If you do frequent the indie filmmaking message boards and communities, then you know that even attempting to ask a basic question will get you flamed, harassed and mocked. For some reason the majority of people on those boards are more interested in being complete dicks than in really helping…not everyone, but most. Aside from the insult responses you’ll get, the main bit of “help” offered by forum members will usually be along the lines of a very sarcastic post containing some variation of the phrase “search the archives for your answer.” Well, we all know that searching a particularly active forum can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. What this does is leave the majority of newbie indie or guerilla filmmakers scratching their heads on where to get started. None of us has an unlimited amount of cash to throw around and for a new filmmaker finding the right equipment for the right price is an absolute MUST…throwing away $500 on the wrong piece of gear can sometimes make or break someone.
What I’m going to be doing over the next week is going over a list of the top 10 must-have essential pieces of equipment for any indie or guerilla filmmaker looking to get started. This is the basic equipment you’ll need to go out there and put together a professional looking piece of film together. This list isn’t going to include anything on editing because that is a list unto itself. Right now we’re sticking with the essential equipment for any beginning filmmaker or someone looking to start their own guerilla production studio. And away we go!
#1: The Camera
First up, the most essential pieces of any filmmaker’s gear is a camera. What type of camera you choose is going to be completely based upon your budget. The main thing to keep in mind is that you absolutely must get a camera with a MIC input. Onboard mics for even higher end cameras tend to be terrible and having the ability to add on a shotgun or wireless lav mic is essential. Unfortunately, a lot of the lower priced camcorders are now being designed with out the needed MIC input, which sucks. What this means is you’ll have to be a bit more selective when it comes to purchasing a lower cost camcorder than with one on the higher end of the spectrum.
Using the MIC input as our guidepost, as I mentioned before, your budget is going to pick your camera for you. Starting at the lowest budget around is the Canon ZR900 camera
If you’ve got a little bit more money in your wallet and want to take your filmmaking to the next step, I suggest the Canon HV20 or Canon HV30 HDV camera
Stepping up from the Canon HV20 / HV30 range of under $1000 cameras, your choices become a lot wider. If you’ve got a budget in the $2000 range and don’t mind shooting in standard definition, the Panasonic DVX100B (and all of its predecessors) is still a great choice
Moving up to the $3000+ price points choices become a bit more difficult because the number of very good cameras in the pro-sumer level. My personal picks are the Canon XHA1
Ok, so my #1 must have piece of indie filmmaking equipment has really just given you a lot of options to think about. The thing to keep in mind is that when it comes to cameras, as with everything, the more money you can spend the better equipment you can get. However, with options like the ZR800 and HV20/HV30 from Canon, there are some excellent choices out there for those of us on a budget.
My personal cameras for shooting my low budget projects right now are the Canon HV20 and the XHA1. The majority of my first unit shots are with the XHA1, with the HV20 acting as a second unit and for doing pick-ups. However, from time to time the HV20 steps up and is my prime camera. I’ll strap on one of my 35mm adapters (more on these later) to the Canon HV20 whenever I want to play around with using depth of field as a storytelling device and the footage cuts together surprisingly well with the XHA1. The combination of the XHA1 and the HV20/HV30 is an excellent options for those of us who are looking for a cheaper alternative to a second camera for a shoot but are worried about getting the footage to sync up.
Check back tomorrow for the next article in this series of essential equipment for indie and guerilla filmmakers where I’ll be going over numbers 2-5. As with everything else on here, feel free to leave me a comment with any thoughts or questions you might have.
-Mat N., the Film Sensei
http://www.FilmSensei.com
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Mat,
Well done. I’d been searching for a good cam that was under $1,000 for several weeks/months. Based on the advice of a lot of other sites and low budget filmmakers, I went with the Canon HV30 and I’m very, very happy. I’m looking forward to reading more. Keep it up.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:43 am
Thank you for posting this and I’m anxiously awaiting your next article in this series. I love your introduction. It’s nice to see that someone is injecting a healthy dose of clarity into this subject.
August 14th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Mat,
Thanks for the article. I’m curious what your thoughts are on the flash drive cameras? Specifically, the Canon HF10 and HF100. I had been looking at the HV30, but I’m plannning to do a fair amount of shooting for the web as well as being able to put together a couple of indie projects. Although the flash-based cameras offer easier transfer to the web, I wouldn’t want to sacrifice quality or usability for it. I know Canon went to a proprietary boot on HF series so I don’t know about compatability with mics, etc. Thanks.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Keep it up man, we need more of your information! Amazing info!
September 18th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I love this site!. Question, I’m looking to do my babe (script, not girl) with a HV30, would like to know the best aspect ratio I should shoot it in, and filters you reccommend, to get that all elusive film look?
K.
September 28th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Hi, Stumbled onto your site, and really enjoy reading your little tutorials.I agree with you that there is very little help out there for anyone starting off doing filmaking.it is all so daunting.I have a Pana NV GS400 and whilst it is a great 3CCD cam,I would really like to futureproof my work by going the HDV route.If I can eek out the money,I want to purchase the Canon XHA1-I see you speak highly of it.Keepup the tuts! Thanks,
Peter
October 1st, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Hey man, you’re doing great things here. Keep it up! You’ve got lots of useful info, and I’m sure glad I stumbled across this site. Happy shooting
October 27th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
First – really like the site, found it through a YouTube video and look forward to reading more.
I personally can’t say enough about the HV20 and I’m glad to see that the opinion seems to be pretty universal.
I’ve been toying with layering the footage in After effects playing the modes and transparencies to get a more realistic film look. Been getting so pretty impressive results.
Point is, between the cost of the HV20 and After Effects CS3, I’m still 1/2 out of pocket what it would have cost for a XHA1.
The HV20 (or the HV30 now) and little time is a great initial investment indie film making!
November 19th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I’m glad you are all enjoying the site. I’ve been tied up with way too much work and have neglected this site! I’ll be getting back on track in the next week. Look for more articles soon!
Thanks!!
-Mat Nastos, Film Sensei
November 19th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Didn’t notice it on here, so i thought i would mention, but the guys who made Crank are currently finishing up the sequel which they shot a lot of, with the HF10 i believe, which is pretty much the same as the HV30 but not shot to tape. I recall having difficulty over whether or not to get the HV30 or the HF10 and in the end it came down to post, in that some applications really dont work too well with the AVCHD format; i think thats what it is. Anyway; pretty neat that a big action film coming out soon was shot mostly with a £600 camera huh!?
January 14th, 2009 at 6:42 am
When’s Part 2 coming up? I’ve been waiting a long time, and I really need to know about lighting and sound equipment.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Hi, i was wondering if you can do all the upgrades you mention on the Canon HV40?
great article by the way ;>
October 28th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Thanks for this. I’ve got a film I want to shoot, but I’m just starting out! This is a great reference.
July 27th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Hey Mat,
You are truly offering a community service. I’ve found the beginning of filmmaking extremely frustrating, mostly due to my lack of technical knowledge. It helps to have an information destination that I feel I can trust. Thanks, man! Keep an eye out for that beer!
February 3rd, 2011 at 10:04 am
I also found this to be awesome. But I wonder: is the HV30 (now HV40) still the best option in that price range?
Thanks
Marcus
June 10th, 2011 at 6:46 am
This is very helpful. Thank you. I know very little about film-making, but my daughter (homeschooled and in high school) has a passion for this field. Trying to help her figure out where to start with a very tight budget. This article is quite well done and informative. And your pig hat rocks.
November 23rd, 2012 at 4:30 pm