Many ?'s re video...newbie

Hola,

I find it amusing to call myself a newbie, at 68 years of age.

I've been shooting stills for about 50 years, and have finally run out of walls. My house looks like a gallery.

I have shot movies, back in the day, with 16mm Bell and Howell,and Bolex movie cameras, as well as videotape using a Sony Betacam.....so I do know some of the underlying principles of cinematography However, I have never shot DIGITAL video.

Where do I start, what's a decent ($500) video camera? If I don't own an HD television, is it worth the money to buy an HD video camera? What's a "simple" video editing software package?

I would like to shoot, edit, narrate, and add b/g music to a series of (future) video clips, while vacationing in Mexico, as well as mixing in some of my stills.

Further, I would like to make multiple copies of the footage on DVD, to give to friends.

Thanks in advance,

del Sol (retired Medical Photographer)

Are you on a Mac OS or Windows?

Windows, thanks for asking, I should have stated that.

del Sol

I am not sure HD will be worth it for you:
if you are exporting to a DVD then the best resolution you can get is SD anyway.

For a windows editing software, I have heard good things about the Pinnacle software suite. I use Premiere pro myself; a little overkill for what you want to do, haha. Another option is the scaled down version, adobe premiere elements.

I would suggest downloading some trials from different software and try them and see which one you like the best.

I am not familiar enough with that range of camera to feel confident giving you advice, but check on CNET.com, they have good reviews of alot of stuff there.

For what it's worth, I'd pick up a HD camera. Eventually, you're going to get that HDTV and wish that you began shooting it sooner. Besides, downgraded HD to SD footage looks better than footage shot as SD. Plus, it gives you a lot more leeway in post when doing things like croping the footage.

As for software, I always recommend Adobe Premiere Elements for hobbyists who want something simple and affordable.

yeah, even small camcorders are HD now (flip mono*, kodak*).

as stated, sooner or later you'll get an HDTV, and i'm sure a lot of people you know have them... modern (current, 2 years) computers are mostly HD friendly anyway. and you can even share your stuff online (vimeo, youtube, etc). in HD (actually with selectable resolutions, if connections are slow) instead of distributing physical media. The future is online! and i think you'd really appreciate that convenience (as will the people you share with).

now, if you bought the above argument, be ready to spend:

depending on what your current computer is, you might need an upgrade. so, a decent modern computer for general video editing/effects stuff would run you around $500 (conservative estimate) to $700 minimum.

as for the camera, hmm... all hobbyists, semi professionals and even professionals are drooling over these dslrs with HD video... and for good reason. the control these new cameras give is just as good as on your film cameras (stills, and movie), so i'm sure you can appreciate the benefits. the ones with full manual controls are the canon t2i, 7d, 5d mark ii, and 1d mark iv (maybe one of the nikons too).

there is one caveat to this route though, and that is you need a new body. the least expensive of which is the t2i ($800 for the body). now, for what it can do, that's not too bad, but still a bit much. it just depends on how serious you are about video stuff (hobbyist or otherwise).

a cheaper alternative camera with manual controls and HD might be the canon hv40 camcorder ($650). it's worth mentioning that that's only a $150 difference and excludes the use of a wide array of lenses (without spending a whole lot more money, for mediocre results even). also worth mentioning is that there probably cheaper HD camcorders too.

i hope this helps

*not recomended, but that's beside the point

canon t2i and neoscene. best investment to start w/ for vDSLR.

Once you get used to HD it's hard to go back to SD!!

Since DSLRs run well above $500 I thought you might like cheaper options as well. I owned one of these for a little bit- the Canon HF series is well regarded as a great consumer camcorder, and you can get an older model for around $500. As for a simple video editing package, you could pick up a Mac Mini for a good price and start right away with iMovie and iDVD. I never learned how to use iMovie because I've always used Final Cut but a lot of people seem to be satisfied with iMovie.

Once you do all the settings in this video, can you save them & go back and forth from video to still shots?
http://www.youtube.com …_comments=1&v=6​2wx5S0jHCk

is there still any new non-HD video recorder on the market? even if it does, i dont think the price would be too much different.. the sanyo xacti series offer full HD capabilities at quite an affordable price.. (assumming you aren't looking for a professional level gear).. for the software, i ussually use Avidemux, its free.. (coz im doing this just for fun, i dont wanna spend too much money in this), sometimes i also uses after effect when i got the chance to use the workstation at my relative's studio..

HD is getting to be a norm now and 3d is the new stuff ppl getting into. Sony vegas 10 didn't care too much promting their new features relating to dslr when they first debut at some show all they talked about was stereoscope 3d.