Recommend a Camera for Performing Arts

[Liam]

I am in the market for 2 cameras for performing arts. It doesnt have to be the ferrari oc cameras as its not for recording shows - mainly for submitting work to the exam board.

 

My initial thoughts were that a go pro would do the trick and its light, portably and can be mounted in several ways. Having looked at the price it may be a little over budget.

 

Can anyone recommeng any? Im looking at £500 for the two.

 

Thanks

 

Liam

[psydii]

Not in your budget, but we used iPad Pros for this and upload into Planet eStream, however there is a financial case for the additional up front expense.

 

Once they got their hands on iPads for this purpose, suddenly they are used day to day for recording and editing performances/lessons, and then other research etc and youtube etc to the whiteboards.

 

If they last for four-five years (as our iPad2's have) they will have proven excellent VFM, replacing the classroom PC, the "interactive" part of the IWB, and the endless request for video cameras (which up to now have been cheap and often broken), and the teacher's laptop.

[jthompson]

We use Panasonic camcorders (HC-V770 I think is the current model). Perhaps a bit higher than your budget though.

The advantages are that the can just be set up on tripods to record performances at length. I think the staff find it reassuring to see something that is recognisably a video camera with a red recording indicator on the screen. Sometimes there a a lot of groups to record in a day, and being able to swap out SD cards to continue making recordings while footage is burned to disc, etc. is useful when it comes to exam time. Optical zoom and being able to cope with different lightning conditions helps, too. Pretty user friendly and minimal training required.

[dhicks]

We use Panasonic camcorders (HC-V770 I think is the current model).

 

We use Panasonic camcorders, too - can't remember the exact model, but a year or two old. It's worth checking what power adaptor they take - if you can run them from USB (5v) power then you can buy a rechargable USB power pack and avoid having to have them plugged into mains if you're recording for a whole lesson / day - saves on the amount of cables running everywhere.

 

I'd agree with the comments above about an iPad, too, or possibly an Android phone / tablet. If you're getting an iPad for video, it might be worth getting a Padcaster case - makes the iPad into quite a nice camera, complete with lens mount and external mic.

 

For my own use, I have a Samsung Gear 360 camera. If you simply need to capture everything that happens in the lesson then it's great. Actually quite affordable (£200), and with an external battery pack and a 256GB micro SD card you can record for pretty much a whole day.