Recording The Light

Upon getting started with videography, it is important to be aware of equipment needs other than the video camera(s) so that one can realistically budget for all the necessary purchases.

In this second part of a series on dSLR videography I will therefore talk about tripods, lights, microphones, and computer equipment. I won’t be able to give comprehensive reviews or extensive product comparisons, but will primarily outline what accompanies my Canon 60D camera as part of my starter kit, with perhaps a few pointers to alternatives.

• Tripods: As I already mentioned in the first part of this series, dSLRs in particular are very difficult to hand hold for video, at least without additional rigs that could easily cost more than the camera itself. Therefore, a tripod is crucial for getting steady video footage. Tripods consist of legs and heads, which can be bought separately or as complete sets. Since many are coming to videography from still photography, it needs to be pointed out that tripod requirements are very different for videography than for still photography. If you already have a very sturdy set of tripod legs, you could probably use that for the time being. However, the head is a different matter. Ball heads are very convenient for still photography, since they allow the camera to be adjusted in several directions in one single go. However, they are basically useless for videography, since one typically wants to keep the camera level and pan just horizontally, and perhaps occasionally vertically, but not change the angle of the camera against the horizon. 3-way heads, the other common choice for still photography, separate these adjustments from each other, but they still don’t allow the smooth panning one wants for video. The proper solution is a dedicated video tripod head. Ideally, this should be a fluid head, but these can easily run into many hundreds of dollars. If your camera and lenses weigh no more than a few pounds (i.e. you are not using heavy tele lenses), take a look at the Manfrotto 701HDV head. If you need to support heavier gear, but can’t afford an expensive fluid head, the Manfrotto 501HDV might be a good alternative. It supports up to 13 lbs, but uses teflon coated disks instead of fluid cartridges. This is the head I currently use.
• Lights: While flashes or strobes are the most common external light source for still photography cameras, video lights obviously have to be continuous lights. Traditional choices are tungsten, quartz or fluorescent lights. The downsides of these lights are that they get very hot, and require large and heavy battery packs if they need to be used away from an AC outlet. LED lights are an exciting and relatively new technology that comes to the rescue. They are available in an increasingly wide range of configurations from small on-camera lights that output the equivalent of a few dozen watts for less than $100 to large panels of 500 Watts equivalent or more that can cost several thousand dollars. Litepanels are probably the industry leader, the lights from Ikan are a worthwhile alternative, and the Arri lights look particularly appealing to me. Shooting with a dSLR has the advantage that with ISOs of 1600, 3200, or even higher, one doesn’t need a lot of light output, so even some of the smaller, less expensive LED lights can be sufficient. The main advantages of all LED lights are that they don’t get hot, and that they use far less power than other continuous lights, which makes battery operation much more attractive. For now, I’m using an Ikan 312 for a main light (about 150 Watts) and an Ikan 144 (about 65 Watts) as a fill light. I would strongly recommend that you rent lights from either a local store or online (e.g. from lensrentals.com) before you spend a lot of money on them.
• Microphones: If you want to capture high quality sound, so will probably quickly decide to use an external microphone rather than the one built into your dSLR. Internal microphones tend to pick up noises from the camera itself (e.g., from focusing motors or from image stabilization) and even under the best of circumstances their sound quality can’t compete with even modestly priced external microphones. I currently use the popular Rode Videomic Pro. Be also aware that manual audio gain control on your camera will give you much better control over audio quality. Not all cameras have this feature, for example amongst Canon dSLRs, the 60D and 5D Mark II have manual audio gain control, but the 7D (which sits in price in between the other two) curiously does not.
• Computer equipment: One equipment expense you don’t want to overlook is computer equipment. Exactly what you need depends on how you decide to edit your video. In the next installment of this series, I will talk specifically about video editing. In the meantime, if you bought your computer (PC or Mac) in the last year or two, and it has at least 4 GB of RAM, it is probably powerful enough. If it’s older or has less than 4GB of RAM, you might find it to be underpowered, especially for editing full HD video (1920×1080). You will also need lots of hard drive space, since video files are huge. The good news is that external hard drives are cheap, e.g., a 1.5 TB external drive currently costs less than $100 (but buy them in pairs, since you always want a backup of all important files on a second disk). A good external monitor is also vital. I recommend the 23 inch IPS monitor from ViewSonic (model number VP2365WB), which is less than $300 and an excellent choice for color sensitive applications such as photo and video editing.

As promised a few weeks ago, I will share some thoughts from my first experiences with dSLR videography, which are intended as guidance to those who are either brand new to videography, or are still contemplating the move and might be wondering what it takes.

Since there is a lot to cover, I will break this into four parts as follows:

1. Cameras: Pros and cons of the basic types of video capable cameras
2. Other equipment: Tripods, microphones, lights, computer equipment, etc.
3. Software: Editing software, other programs and plugins, tutorials
4. Still photography vs. videography mindset

So, let’s get started with Part 1: Cameras. There are at least four common types of video capable cameras: ultra portable video cameras, consumer camcorders, prosumer or professional video cameras, and video enabled dSLRs. Here are some of their respective pros and cons:

• Ultra portable cameras: You probably have one of these in your pocket right now: Yes, your cell phone. While video recording has been a feature of mobile phones for years, some recent cell phone models, such as Apple’s iPhone 4, record remarkably high quality video. Their basic advantage is the old saying that the best camera at any given moment is the one you have with you. Cell phones can hardly be beat in that regard. Point and shoot still cameras have also included video recording for years. Other cameras in this class might be the (now retired) Flip models, or the popular GoPro sports cameras. Cameras in this class are usually the easiest to operate, often down to a single button press, and they also tend to offer easy web sharing on YouTube, Facebook, or other popular websites. On the other hand, their controls are rather limited, so for the budding film maker they are probably not the right choice in most circumstances.
• Consumer camcorders: Consumer camcorders (e.g., the Canon Vixia line) are an extremely convenient choice for many “household” video applications, such as vacation videos, videos of your children, etc. Many high definition consumer camcorders cost less than a $1000. They have generally good ergonomics, good auto focus, offer easy to use auto modes, but in many cases also include fairly sophisticated manual controls. Two of their fundamental disadvantages both relate to their small sensors: they have large depth of field (i.e., it’s hard to isolate a subject from the background), and their low light image quality cannot compete with professional camcorders or dSLRs.
• Professional camcorders: You could think of professional camcorders, e.g., from Canon, Sony, Panasonic, or JVC, as consumer camcorders on steroids. They are bigger, heavier, more expensive (typically over $3,000 for high definition models), offer more controls and better image quality. A fundamental advantage of these camcorders (and the same could be said to some extent for the consumer camcorders) is their superb ergonomics. They have been refined for many years to have every control in the right place. An easy to reach variable speed zoom rocker might be a prime example. Their sensors tend to be larger than consumer camcorders, but still smaller than dSLRs, so their depth of field and low light performance lies in between those two other categories of cameras.
• dSLRs: If you have bought a digital SLR in the last two years (e.g., from Canon or Nikon), chances are excellent that you can also record video with it. Some other interchangeable lens cameras, such as Panasonic’s G, GF, and GH lines of cameras, also fall into the same class. These cameras are perhaps the most exciting video technology in decades. It’s no exaggeration to say that for a few thousand dollars (camera, lenses, tripod, lights, etc.) you can record video at such high quality that a few years ago only motion picture cameras costing more than $100,000 could have possibly competed. The biggest downside of dSLRs as video cameras is their ergonomics. They were simply never designed to be video cameras. Controls are not in the right place (e.g., zoom), auto focus is probably barely usable (although this is starting to change with the latest models), and hand holding them is out of the question without expensive after market solutions. Whether this is a deal breaker depends on your application. If you want to record video of your kids running around your house or backyard, then a dSLR is a bad choice. On the other hand, if you are a film maker, shoot from a tripod and carefully plan your takes ahead of time, then a dSLR is almost impossible to beat. Indeed, some prime time TV shows and full length feature films have been recorded with dSLRs, such as the Canon 5D Mark II.

Alright, that should be enough for one post. In the next part, I will talk about other pieces of equipment such as tripods, lights, microphones, etc. In many cases, these will be an absolute necessity, so it is important to figure them into your budget.

Happy Fourth of July!