Recommendation for recording theater production/drama classes

[falko1]

Hi All,

 

Our Drama department has made a request to help them find an alternative to what they and also I had at our previous jobs which was these little flip cams https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flip-Video-Definition-Camcorder-Memory/dp/B0029U29A8

 

 

Can anyone recommend anything suitable for recording theater/drama classes, needs to be easy to use for the students/staff. I was thinking maybe a GoPro as they have a line input where we could attach stage mic etc. Whilst the video is great quality @ 4K I know they are more suited to adventure style video than theater production

 

 

Thanks

[dhicks]

Can anyone recommend anything suitable for recording theater/drama classes, needs to be easy to use for the students/staff.

 

Assuming you want something you can plonk in a corner, on a tripod, and just leave to run, I'd try a 360 degree camera for this. I'm suitably impressed by my Samsung Gear 360's quality and usability for the price (£220), and with a 256GB micro SD card and an external USB power supply it should be able to record for most of a day without stopping. 360 degree cameras are great - they simply record everything around them. You'll have to either be able to show people footage in 360 degrees (not, actually, difficult, as even Windows 10 can do this natively now) or edit the footage into a standard-angle shot showing the action you want. For the latter, seemingly GoPro's new 360 camera, which includes editing software, is pretty impressive, although it's nearer £800.