Kit
DV Cams
The Sony advanced DV cams are a good filming solution for filming in any given location. Though they are slowly being phased out by digital cameras (DSLR) they are a very standard way of capturing video. However as these cameras are typically more reliant on the mechanical features of the device, therefore they are slightly more prone to failure.
Microphones
Microphones are of course a very important part of making any sort of journalistic film, the two kinds of microphone that I used for this project are the Rhode Gun Mic and the Sure standard voice microphone. Whilst the Rhode is very good for directional audio pick up the sure is more of an all-encompassing range. Also the Gun microphone is slightly more sensitive to weather conditions and general ambience, therefore a windshield is sometimes needed to block out and unwanted noise. Gun Microphones excel at picking up sound from a distance, they are what is known as a directional microphone.
Marantz
The Marantz is an industry standard sound capture device, it can be set to varying levels of quality and there are multiple inputs that you can use. They can be powered from a cable or battery however they do tend to take a heavy burden on most batteries. They can be used with any of the microphones noted in the previous parts of this research site.
Cannon DSLR's
DSLR's are becoming a very respectable force for capturing HD footage with a minimal budget and manpower requirement. A middle of the range DSLR unit can cost anywhere between £800 to £1500 but this is far less than other lightweight filming solutions (Sony V1E, £2000 - £3000). DSLR is lighter and capable of shooting full HD video and photos. However this utility does come at a price as DSLR's are known to have some overheating tendencies and require a very fast speed of SD card in order to reach their full potential.
Digital Single Lens Reflex is quickly becoming an industry standard of capturing video in a attractive and agronomical manner. These cameras utilise a extremely fast shutter speed in order to string together video. this provides The cannon EOS D series has a very wide spectrum of ability, the 550D,600D and 650D models have all great utility for the price and then there are the higher grade, the 5D and 7Ds. These are sometimes used to shoot feature films, because of their HD capability, lightweight and cheap.
RAW Photography
Cannon EOS Cameras also have the ability to shoot in 'RAW' a format that when used with Adobes' Photoshop can completely change how a picture looks, and can even fix such on capture errors such as over exposure.
Steady Cams
Steady cams are a fundamental solution to the problem of 'shaky hands' whilst filming. You can attach just about any camera to the steady cam, as long as it is not too heavy. They come in several different shapes and sizes such as fig rigs shoulder mounts or glide tracks that are usually for use with two tripods. Whilst being a great tool, they do have a draw back in the way that they can limit the amount of room that the camera operator has to operate.
Hard Drives
External Hard drives are important for any capturing use. If you want the best performance from a hard drive it is preferable to get a USB 3.0 hard drive plugged into a compatible computer or for internal use, an internal SATA2 hard drive
