4K Video Camera & Microphone

[RDCorporation]

Hi all!

I've been after a good camera for video recording for a while now.

Camera

Originally I was gonna buy Sony a6300, which for a while was at £650 with original 16-50mm Lens.
Reading reviews and opinions on the camera it seems to be a good weapon of choice.

Now before I push the button, I am wondering if there are other cameras I should consider within same or slightly more budget?

Videos will be a vlog type videos, with people talking and scenary shots as well in between. It will be more of set up and edited video than just holding the camera and walking around amateurly (is that a word?)

Camera needs to focus quickly when moved around ideally.
I am trying to find a camera for around £700 with best quality I could get so at the moment a6300 ticks the boxes, after seeing it in real life performance.

Microphones

Originally I been after lavalier microphones but been told they are crap because they make a lot of noise on movement such as on clothing.

Not sure how true though and if there are work arounds that?

Would a shotgun mic be better or should i be investing in both types?


Thank you guys in advance for any help

 

[gort]

Yeah walking round with the camera like an amateur is lame! Never get the professionals moving their cameras about whilst filming

Regarding microphones....
Lav mics aren't crap and do have their place. A lot video is done with them you often just can't see them.
There are things you can do to reduce/eliminate movement noise (do a google) and choose unidirectional over omnidirectional.
You could also be any distance from your subject and still record good sound as you can use a lav mic and record it in to a device on their person and sync up later (double system sound.)
If it were me I'd probably also get both type of mic (lav and shotgun) so I was covered.

 

[RDCorporation]

Thanks for your feedback!

With lav mics, is it a matter of matching the sound to video during editing? Or can you connect it to camera wirelessly?
Might be the dumbest question of the day

 

[gort]

Thanks for your feedback!

With lav mics, is it a matter of matching the sound to video during editing?

Yes.
You have the video file and then the audio file and line them up. You can use the audio recorded on the camera to line up the audio recorded on the external mic.

Some software gives you an option to automatically match them up i.e insert video file (with recorded audio) and insert the external audio file and click a button and it's done.

I've read that some recording software (especially the basic ones included on phones) may record the sound at a different speed to your video so when you sync, after a few seconds or minutes you may notice the sound is behind or ahead of the video.

My knowledge and experience is fairly limited but I have a lav mic to record the audio to my phone (using downloaded software) when filming on a crappy rainy/windy day when out hiking/camping where I think the audio from my camera will be rubbish.
I found this video to be very good at explaining the external sound and recording options.

Not heard of wirelessly connecting audio to the camera but if it did I expect it wouldn't be cheap.

 

[aoaaron]

If you are doing vlogs, your big issue with the Sony will be a lack of vari angle LCD display. It makes content creation far far far less versatile and framing + composition is VERY important. It has an awesome autofocus but I still wouldn't want to soley rely on it.

£650 for an a6300 is a great deal w/a lens. My only hesistancy would be the fact that the A6xxx lineup is probably going to be refreshed next. Also the battery life is crap, it can overheat when filming 4k, its not weather sealed, as I previously mentioned the lens lineup is lack luster and the lack of variangle LCD is annoying and less versatile.


Your other option is a panasonic G85 which is crapper low light, crap video autofocus but has the advantages of weather sealing, a vari-angle LCD, an excellent battery life, an awesome + cheap lens selection, smaller lenses which means basically you can pocket and carry around a long zoom and probably not even get noticed, etc.






Its a really tough choice and factor in your lenses will far outlast the body to invest in whichever lens lineup you like the look of best. The standout feature for the Sonys are the lightening AF, high fps /slow mo capabilities, and the superb low light performance. However they fall short on most other areas. the panny is the all-rounded but lacking in low light performance + autofocus in video.

 

[Rhaos]

Also check out the Panasonic Lumix GH4.

You can pick it up for around £660.

You get a lot of bang per buck with all the features it has.