Since you are from Spain, I am assuming you are asking for sub-500 EUR (and not US$) camera.

What you are asking will cost you 1,300 EUR or more. DoF can be had on the new Canon 7D, and it will also do great for scenic shots. However, if I remember well, no audio ins for mics. In addition, it is a CMOS camera with a large sensor, so no fast motion (otherwise, you get jell-o-vision, courtesy of the rolling shutter).

For 500 EUR, all you can get is cheap consumer AVCHD camcorders from Hitachi, JVC, Panasonic. The EU market has very few models that fit below 500EUR, and they are really bottom of the barrel. If you have a way of getting a camcorder from the US market, you could get much better choices. 500EUR is around US$ 740 today, which gets you a decent Canon (HF-S100 is $800).

If you are about to shoot a feature with a lot of water sport activity (fast motion), CMOS devices can easily show problems. You'll get a lot of unusable material due to the above-mentioned rolling shutter. CCD consumer camcorders are rapidly disappearing and probably the cheapest professional, good quality solution or you would be Panasonic's legendary AG-HMC150 (with 3 CCD sensors). In US, it sells for the equivalent of around 1,950 EUR. And you still won't get the SLR-type depth-of-field.

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Originally posted by MamboFilmProject

Any advise would be helpfull, what sub 500 camera do you recommend for making decent quality movies? or should we splash out on a decent semi pro camera?

The aim is to shoot both watersport activity, (wakeboarding) as well as a indoor character shots and outdoor scenic scenes for a feature film we are working on

Some of the things i need: ( I think)?:)?

Widescreen HD capability
Depth of Field (so it looks like 35mm)
External Audio connections (for microphones)
PLEASE NO SONY! due to poor performance and continous problems with all our sony camera

Mambo Film Project

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Whichever camera you choose, to get that "film look," being able to shoot at a frame-rate of 23.98fps (commonly called 24P on pro-sumer level cameras). HD cameras are inherently "widescreen" (16:9).

Depth of field is controlled by focal length and aperture. The longer your focal length, the less depth-of-field you have. Also, the more open your aperture, the less depth-of-field you have. The ability to control focal length and aperture manually are key to controlling your depth-of-field.

You might also consider recording sound on a separate recorder and sync it back to picture later. Doing so allows greater freedom of movement for the camera because you won't have cables running to it from the mixer.

Also, the situations you describe seem to point to the need for multiple cameras. The type of camera best used for standard "set" shooting is not necessarily what is best for shooting something like wake-boarding in water. You'll need a much smaller camera that is able to fit into a water-housing.

So, my recommendation is that instead of investing money into a camera (and other equipment) that will likely not be adequate for what you wish to accomplish, consider renting precisely what you need for what will likely be a lower cost overall.

Even better, consider finding a local Cameraman who already owns equipment and is anxious to contribute to your project for little or no money. You're likely to have a much better project in the end and not have to be shooting with inferior equipment or stuck with obsolete equipment when you're finished.

Whatever you decide, do yourself a favor and run a TEST of picture and sound all the way through the post-production pipeline. The last thing you want is to shoot your entire movie only to find out that there is a problem with the way the camera and sound were set up. Once you have a successful test, you will have the confidence that the technical issues are all taken care of and then you can concentrate on the story.

Good luck! 🙂

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

A note on 24p cameras; among the sub-$1000 (or sub- 800EUR) consumer models, none of the ones in the EU market will have 24p (or 30p, or 60i, for that matter). Consumer camcorders for the EU market only have 25p or 50i. Some may have "cine" or "movie" look, which tweaks the gamma a bit, but the framerate will always be a derivative of the PAL legacy. This is a shame, since HD does not define differences as SD did (with PAL, NTSC, SECAM, etc). On the other side of the Atlantic, almost all consumer camcorders now have 24p, 30p and 60i framerates, and a few even have 60p. These US models seem to be very popular with EU filmmakers, and 24p is the reason. The bonus value of a US model is the ability to shoot 30p and force it onto a 24p timeline, thereby getting a gentle, elegant slow motion.

What I'm trying to say is, if you are going for 500-600 EUR (or anything below 1,000 EUR), making an effort to get a US model would give you several benefits; in addition to the frame rate options mentioned above, you'll pay at least 20% less in US than in EU for the equivalent model (i.e. Vixia HF-S100 costs some $400 less than Legria HF-S100).