I'm a pro-video guy "on the side"....which is to say I have a video business that makes enough money to support itself, but not enough to actually put anything in my pocket. LOL :laugh: I shoot with a few different cameras, all of which are in the "Sony Broadcast & Professional" product line (but on the bottom end of the spectrum, like in the $2000 range, not the $200,000 range). I think I've got a couple of off-the-cuff tidbits I can share real quick....
* I'm a huge fan of Canon camera equipment; I've used quite a bit of it over the years and have even bought a few units. So kudos on the camera choice, I think you're gonna be thrilled. It's got a couple of really
critical features that I'd demand when looking at a small consumer-grade cam: (A) the more mature format of HDV as opposed to the AVCHD which I just don't like; (B) a mic input, which while not as nice as true XLR, is still very serviceable; (C) an accessory hot shoe; (D) a threaded front end that can accept a protective UV filter or a wide-angle lens.
* I've shot plenty of footage in both SD and HD, and I can tell you that I've shot
better looking footage using an SD camera equipped with great lenses and quality 3CCD sensors than compared to a consumer-grade HD resolution camera with a single CMOS sensor. I'm not saying that to knock your camera choice; rather, I'm pointing out something that seems
counterintuitive: the fact that
RESOLUTION is nowhere near as important as all these camera manufacturers would have you believe in their marketing materials! The lens quality, the sensor size, and the number of sensors (3 vs 1) are far, far, far more important than resolution. So while that HV20 is a truly awesome camera, it's definitely in the "prosumer" range. I mention that only to say that you're only going to be able to get
so much out of that camera. Granted, that
"so much" is friggin' LIGHT YEARS ahead of just about every other consumer camera on the market (can you tell I like that little Canon camera yet? LOL) but it's just remember it's still a consumer camera, so you're not going to be able to shoot documentaries, or broadcast-quality footage, or even low-budget films with it...but for enthusiast home video use, it's very likely one of the top 3 cameras on the market, and one of the very few that I'd buy myself!
(Gawd, I'm starting to sound like a pompous ass..let me get back on track here)
* Here's a general rule about shooting high-quality video:
70% of what you see is what you hear. I say that to point out what your very first purchase should be (and what you've already mentioned): a shotgun mic. For your camera choice, I'd *highly* recommend the
RODE VIDEOMIC.
* In addition to the shotgun mic, I'd definitely recommend that you buy a threaded UV filter to protect the lens from scratches.
* In addition to the shotgun mic and the UV filter, I'd suggest you look into buying the available
Wide Angle lens. I found that my video work got substantially better when I started shooting with a wide angle lens coupled with GETTING CLOSER to my subject matter.
* If you noticed, I made a couple of links to B&H Photo & Video. I'd *highly* recommend dealing with them. They are a quality vendor in a marketplace full of the shadiest dealers you'll find in any market. Ugh, the camera market is just FULL of sleazy dealers sellling "gray market" equipment, so be sure to really watch who you deal with on the Internet!
* For the most part, I'd say not to trust the "24p" cameras out there that retail for under $2000...with the notable exceptions of the Canon HV20 and HV30! Those little sub-$1000 cams do true progressive-scan 24p as opposed to the somewhat questionable "24f" that some of their higher-priced, more professional siblings do!
* If you use a Mac, I'd highly recommend "Final Cut Express" as your non-linear video editing software choice. If you're on Windows PC, then I'd probably recommend Sony Vegas Platinum which is a highly capable, if somewhat non-standard, NLE environment. If you plan on authoring DVDs however, then I'd definitely recommend stepping up your software choices to their Final Cut Pro Studio (which includes Compressor AC3 software and DVD Studio Pro) or on a PC, Sony Vegas Pro (which includes AC3 software and DVD Architect).
* Some people will disagree with me on this, but I make a point to NEVER reuse tapes. EVER. I buy tapes in bulk and just shoot my ass off (sometimes as much as 8 hours of footage in a single day, which is harder than it sounds) and always use fresh tapes. Even though
in theory reusing tapes is fine because it's just digital 0's and 1's being recorded, I have found that I will get occasional random timecode errors when shooting on a tape that already has been recorded on...and that will seriously screw things up in the NLE software. Ugh, it's a pisser, you don't wanna have to deal with that. Just use new tape every time.
Okay, dang, that's all I can think of at the moment! :rofl:
