Bullet-

That really depends. First off, how dedicated are you? Most people will say, "That'd be cool to be a director." then in two months, find out it isn't what they think, then quit. They've wasted 2 grand on a camera they'll never use again.

Give me some specs on yourself and what you like to film. maybe I can help you out in a bit.

-YO

Joshua

Well, I'm kind of thinking about directing.

My real passion is cinematography. I'd love to be a DoP.

But I've ideas for short films. Plus I'm doing a 16mm camera course soon.?:)?

Have you ever had a dream Neo that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream: how would you know the difference between the dream world, and the real world?

Hello, I'm from the United States and i love writing and filming. I am looking in to buying a camera, i was wondering if anyone can suggest a good camera and computer software. I am serious about filming and need to get a camera. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Please email me also if you have any suggestions. thanks.

My email address is mrx347?bellatlantic.net

There are a couple of answers in the Internet Filmmaker's FAQ to these questions (note the subtle suggestion that you read them), however the upshot of it all is, it doesn't really matter what camera you buy, since your first films are going to be learning experiences and not much more. The only really useful advice is go for a camera in your budget that has as many manual overrides as possible. Automatic cameras are for holiday videos. For easy of editing, you should also go for a digital camera that has a firewire-out capability. Other than that, the cameras in your budget range are all pretty much the same.

filmmaking.net.

What cameras would you suggest that are manual, digital and have a firewire output? My budget would be anything under $1300. -dean mrx347?bellatlantic.net

Also, are the cameras that are manual, digital and have a firewire output good for creating films and editing on the computer?

The VX1000 does all that, and a lot more. I have been using a Sony VX1000 for some time; done some short movies, and some commercial projects, and though it seems a bit old now (especially after the releaes of the VX2000) its still a magnificient camera. I think it can be bought for around 1000 pound around the world, and as a miniDV it is still one of the best you can get.

All the best

What are the differences/advantages/disadvantages between MiniDV and MiniMV?? I'm looking to buy a camera and I want to be able to hook it up to my computer and use editing software to edit it and add efects (on a windows computer). I'm going to buy editing software after i get the camera. The camera should have excellant sound, really good video quality. I'm not really sure what things the camera that i need, shouold have. I want to spend under $1600 dollars (i dont know what that is in pounds.) Somone please help me! haha -dean mrx347?bellatlantic.net

I've never heard of a video format called MiniMV. Are you sure you have this right? At any rate, you can check out a comparison of the various video formats at http://www.exposure.co.uk/eejit/format/index.html.

With regards to cameras, as the faq says, it doesn't really matter which camera you buy because at the budget range you're talking about they are all much the same in terms of quality. The most important thing is manual overrides as I said before.

Check out MiniDV cameras from Canon, Sony, JVC or Panasonic. (1000 pounds is about $1600 incidently).

filmmaking.net.

The MiniMV or MicroMV is also a digital camera, but it uses MPEG2 compression, which is after all, not a professional codec. The output files are extremely small, when compared to that of a regular DV camera. It has a bitrate of less than half that of a MiniDV. So no matter how good the picture quality may look at first, its still less than any other DV camera, and certainly much behind broadcast quality. If you are into some professional stuff you should consider a miniDV with a 3CCD chip, as there are numerous other manual features in such a camera that you cant find in e MicroMV. A 3CCD chip is important if you consider broadcast quality. When you are into filming, things you never tought of like manual focus, iris, steadyshot, advanced colour features, will be vital to you. And you wont find any of these in the MicroMV.

For editing software, I would recommend Sonic Foundry Vegas for the editing, and Adobe After Effects for FX stuff. You will have almost no limits with these two tools, and Vegas works surprisingly fast, while After Effects is slow, but will give you excellent visual results.

So if I'm spending at most $1600 (1000 pounds) which camera would you reccomend that has a 3ccd chip? Also what exactly does a 3ccd chip do? How much are the two editing softwares you told me about? Sony Vegas and Adobe After effects? Thanks so much. -dean mrx347?bellatlantic.net

Also, what is a manual override?? Whats the differeance between and automatic and manual camera? What do they do differently and why is one better than the other for filming purposes? -thanks, dean

I myself would like to know what the cheapest most affordable 3CCD camera is on the market right now. As of what a 3CCD (charge coupled device)chip is, it is the chip that picks up the image you are filming. Basically it is the heart of the camera. A 1CCD camera picks up the entire picture where as a 3CCD camera has one CCD pick up each of the 3 basic colors then converges it into an image afterwards therfore giving a much crisper and more detailed image. This doesn't have anything to do with the resolution of an image, but still improves it by alot. Its kinda the same idea between A/V cables and Component Video cables. I don't know about Vegas but After Effects runs at about 1500$. Manual overide just means that instead of letting your camera decide what the best settings should be for a particular scene, you decide. This is definetly better in the same way that, if driven correctly, a standard car is more fuel efficient than an automatic.

Life is the art of making movies without editing