What i've come here for is some advice. As expected, the first dilemma i have been faced with on this journey is the fundamental question "What camera do i buy!". I was very close to purchasing the hdr sr12, and despite it looking like a beautiful camera, from what i've read, editing it's avhcd is much a daunting task, only viable for those with the most powerful of computers. For future reference my pc specs will be:
Dell XPS M1710
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme X9000
Windows Vista(R) Ultimate 32 bit SP1 Edition
4GB (2x2GB) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM 200GB* 7200 RPM SATA RAID 0 (Data Striping)
Dual 512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 8800M GTX with NVIDIA(R) SLI(TM) Technology
and apparently laptops are not the best choice for HD editing. Would it be more appropriate for me to spend a bit extra and go for a low-end professional camera like the Sony FX1? I have about $2500 budget, quality and editing (hopefully with adobe Cs3) are of utmost importance. Any other tips for such a task would be greatly appreciated.
For editing you want to go for a dual or even quad core processor.. running something like studio64 linux which is designed for high end graphics and multimedia applications. (disney-pixar don't use windows!!)
Camera wise, and a personal feeling. I'm sure you can get slightly lower end used professional equipment for far less than top end new domestic.. with all the industry support which exists for professionals. For cameras in particular a bit of weight is an advantage, as will be the file formats they use.
Being very honest for a moment (and as a qualified video film producer) I wouldn't bother with HD straight off... learn your craft with something which is going to be simple and cheap to buy and use. A nice SDcamcorder shouldn't push you much more than £200 (analog even less, and just as high quality for the final image) with the editing requirements being far lower.. Then as you get the skills and find your style you can do work to pay for upgrades, knowing you have the skills which justify the expense. People pooh pooh doing weddings and stuff.. but at £500 for a few hours work what's stupid about that?
Though do you have any suggestions on some suitable cameras for what i want to do, or where should i start looking online because i have found it hard to find many websites specializing in low-end professional camcorders. As aforementioned quality is very important and i'm willing to pay the price for it, what features should i be looking for in the camera, i know focus, white balance and lighting are essential in film making, so any suggestions?
Sorry.. that's where my knowledge of modern technology ends. I'm not in the market for video equipment.. Not my direction any more.
I would just go and buy something like a sony analog camcorder for about £40 and start filming all kinds of things.. then learn to capture the results and edit them with my existing equipment. With the knowledge you gain you should be better able to make a sensible and selective choice based on real experience rather than words and numbers on paper. Some features seem very desirable in a camera.. but you will find that a good depth of field is far more important than a 20x zoom for instance.
Do you have a local tv station? Ask around there.. somebody from the technical side will know who sells good gear ;)
Now if you want a really good tip... turn the sound off on your tv and watch the pictures instead. Do that as often as you can... how many mistakes do you notice? Look for continuity errors.. it's a curse.. I still do it even after close to 20 years out of the business.
Remember.. good film making is about skill and vision, the equipment is secondary. Some of the best things I have ever seen have been shot on 16mm cine cameras by people with the eye for a frame and a good understanding of the story they want to tell and the way they want to tell it.
