AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I have a friend in Ecuador who needs recommendations for camera and lenses for making videos. Since I know nothing about video, I said I'd ask y'all. So, those of you who do video, what camera and lens would you recommend.

He wants to be able to isolate the subject from the background. The videos will be of himself doing tutorials for his work.

I know there will be the usual battle between Canon and Nikon users. What I'd like to hear is what you recommend and why. I don't know his price point exactly, but I'm sure top of the line won't be an option.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Nikon does not really do video so that is off the table.
From there what is the budget?
Sony, Panasonic and Canon make a wide range of excellent video cameras for video through cinema movies. They have fixed lens and interchangeable lens options. Burkphoto is really into this and will chime in with real world thoughts.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

So what IS the budget? Full frame mirrorless is the best option for shallow depth of field, but building a simple Sony or Panasonic LUMIX system easily can cost $5000 to $6000. Higher end systems can jump above $10,000 very quickly.

The sweet spot for price/performance is the Lumix GH5 Micro 4/3 camera. The GH5S is its filmmaking low light sibling.

I use an older GH4, and find it meets my needs quite well.

Over 110 lenses are available for Micro 4/3, so you can get nearly anything you need. dSLR lenses can be adapted, too. Canon EF mount lenses work quite well.

In general, the Panasonic Lumix cameras have the very best video and audio *control* features, excellent video, and the best audio in hybrid (stills plus video) cameras. The full frame S1H is a GH5S on steroids. But it’s top of line expensive!

If I knew more specifically what sort of situations he want to record, I would recommend lenses and external microphones.

Please understand that good SOUND is crucial to good video. Most pros use external mics. I use wired lapel mics, wireless lapel mics, shotgun mics on boom poles... it just depends on the situation.

The point is to keep your microphones WITHIN three feet of your subjects (closer is better).

Depth of field can be controlled with aperture, focal length, and distance from the subject. Neutral density filters are extremely helpful in keeping it shallow! Video normally uses speeds of 1/48 to 1/120 second, depending on frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50, or 60 fps). So to get a wide aperture in bright daylight, you need several strengths of ND filters to fit your lenses. I keep ND8 and ND64 and ND1024 filters in my bag. That’s -3, -6, and -10 stops, respectively.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Good response, my recommendation to listen to you was just above your post.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I just added to it. Hopefully, we’ll hear more from the OP about the situations to be recorded.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I don't know what his budget is. I asked. I think at this point, he'd like to see recommendations (and the whys) and then see what's actually available down there.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Thanks so much for all of this info. I'm not familiar with much outside of Canon, and even then don't know the various models well enough to comment. We've talked about DOF and how important it is. I hadn't thought about a mic. Guess that's really important.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Quite honestly, I don't know a lot about how, where, etc., he intends to do these. I can ask. What specific questions do I need to ask him in order to get the information y'all need?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

60% or more of what we perceive in a film or video is derived from sound.

When I worked for Delmar Studios as an AV producer in the 1980s, I had a chance to visit two of our sister companies in Hollywood, Consolidated Film Industries (a film lab for the movie industry), and Glen Glenn Sound, an audio post-production service for the film and TV studios in the area.

At Glen Glenn, I got a lecture from their president and VP about the importance of audio.

They were preaching to the choir... I had worked in radio and radio commercial production studios for 8 years at that point. Still, they made me realize why the details matter.

Cheap mics in the right places sound better than expensive mics in the wrong places. But the cheap mics in your camera are nearly always in the wrong place! The only time I use them is to synchronize the video with another recorder’s output (during editing).

Beyond recording sound is the task of audio mixing and “sweetening.” That’s where you add music and sound effects, adjust loudness, equalize (adjust tone), compress dynamics (make loud parts quieter and quiet parts louder), and so forth. That, and audio dialogue replacement, are what Glen Glenn did.

Most mixing and sweetening can be done on a Mac or a PC, or a tablet or a phone these days. All Macs, iPads, and iPhones come with a pretty sophisticated video editor and audio production software.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Thanks.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"isolate the subject from the background. The videos will be of himself doing tutorials for his work"

That's smartphone territory. This brief description tells how to blur the background with an iPhone. Phone audio kits aren't hard to find.

https://vimeo.com/blog/post/master-your-iphone-settings-for-boastfully-beautif/

Other than that, Bill's Panasonic suggestions with Panasonic gear is very good. It can get expensive with lenses that are fast enough for background blur. To get the lens open far enough, ND filters may be needed.

If cost is critical and phones are rejected, there are a lot of point-n-shoots that do very good video.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I actually wondered about a point and shoot. Some of them seem to be nicely engineered for that use. But I don't know which ones they are.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Again, Sony and Panasonic seem to make nice cameras.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Thanks!

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The hard part of most point-n-shoots is that there is typically no mic jack. So, the audio can be a challenge.