Comments on: Top 10 Essential Equipment for Indie Filmmakers: Part I – the Camera

By: Marcus

Marcus — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:46:06 +0000

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

By: Ben Simpson

Ben Simpson — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:04:32 +0000

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!

By: Antoinette

Antoinette — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:46:36 +0000

Thanks for this. I’ve got a film I want to shoot, but I’m just starting out! This is a great reference.

By: Luis de Pablo

Luis de Pablo — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:21:46 +0000

Hi, i was wondering if you can do all the upgrades you mention on the Canon HV40?
great article by the way ;>

By: Jak Razzi

Jak Razzi — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:44:31 +0000

When’s Part 2 coming up? I’ve been waiting a long time, and I really need to know about lighting and sound equipment.

By: ian alex mac

ian alex mac — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:42:34 +0000

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!?

By: Mat

Mat — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:52:08 +0000

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

By: NeoZAZ

NeoZAZ — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:00:15 +0000

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!

By: Mark A.

Mark A. — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:17:47 +0000

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

By: Peter Desmarais

Peter Desmarais — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:12:22 +0000

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