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View Full Version : Thinking about renting a camera



dodgeshadowchik
05-14-2010, 11:00 AM
I am considering renting a camera for SDAC. I saw a few videos online that I thought were pretty neat; and I'd like to make one for SDAC. Since I won't have a car this year, I can play Papperazzi.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcDwKUitR4g
And this one:

http://vimeo.com/4700094

The guy(s) that does the video stuff for Toledo uses an HD 3-chip camera that runs about $4000 to buy. I saw I can rent one for about $381 and have it for the length of the event. These cameras offer FAR superior video and audio quality, TRUE HD (since its a 100% digital camera, with a mini-dv option for SD output), really good image stabilization and better night sensitivity. Oh yeah, and can shoot slo-motion! :D

So I guess I'm curious if anyone would be interested in HD footage like this. Since the rental cost is kinda steep (for me anyways). Or if anyone would is interested in this and would like to help offset the cost, I would give you any footage I take with is. Remeber tho, every minute shot is 1gb. So your laptop or harddrive would have to be pretty large!

Just a thought. :)

this is what I'm looking at. I've used them at school before... they are awesome cameras.
http://www.atsrentals.com/item--Rent-Panasonic-HVX200-HD-Camcorder--1037.html#qa

Dusty_Duster
05-14-2010, 11:28 AM
Making a video would be cool, but I really don't see the point in paying that much money just for HD.

BadAssPerformance
05-14-2010, 11:45 AM
That would be cool...

dodgeshadowchik
05-14-2010, 12:48 PM
Making a video would be cool, but I really don't see the point in paying that much money just for HD.


It's not so much the HD aspect as it id the Video quality. It may be because I'm used to working with DSLR still cameras why I'm so picky... and this video camera is like the DSLR of the video world.

The difference is that the high end cameras use 3 seperate imaging chips; one for each color channel (red, green and blue) whereas your normal camcorder only uses one. That's really where the difference lies. I did find on that site I can get one that's not HD, but still a 3-chip for a lot less.. i might go that route.

I'm also learning (and working) with vfx and compositing, so the better the video quality, the more you can do with it.

Dusty_Duster
05-14-2010, 02:23 PM
It's not so much the HD aspect as it id the Video quality. It may be because I'm used to working with DSLR still cameras why I'm so picky... and this video camera is like the DSLR of the video world.

The difference is that the high end cameras use 3 seperate imaging chips; one for each color channel (red, green and blue) whereas your normal camcorder only uses one. That's really where the difference lies. I did find on that site I can get one that's not HD, but still a 3-chip for a lot less.. i might go that route.

I'm also learning (and working) with vfx and compositing, so the better the video quality, the more you can do with it.

Oh, so you want the HD video to do cool effects with... :eyebrows:

My compact digital camera takes 1080p HD-resolution photos@ 13.4 Mp (allegedly, the video is HD-resolution, as well, but I dunno), so I'll hook you up with my "take." :thumb: It's not a DSLR, but I'm quite impressed with the quality of photos it takes.

LaserXT1986
05-19-2010, 11:53 AM
I'd say go for it, record the whole event, make a SDAC-20 DVD and sell it when done editing :D

Should be easy to recoup the rental fee that way, plus the experience you gain with the camera and new editing techniques is a bonus :thumb:

22shelby
05-19-2010, 12:01 PM
like i said MB im down.....but all i can offer up is my camera.... however as we discussed, it will make for some interesting shots in the HD set up....we'll colab a lil more once we get closer to the event, i know figure out who what when where, and every thing in between....

oh and fyi mine record and extracts in .AVI.... so pretty healthy...

dodgeshadowchik
05-19-2010, 07:35 PM
yup, Avi's are definately large. We are working in dpx's at the studio.

We definatly can use your camera, too. Would liek to get inside shots of racing and such. :)

That camera is $10000... LOL!!! For s & g's I looked it up the other day. If I go with the lower rental cost one, that one is the $4000 one. Ha.. who knew this stuff is so darn expensive.

i'll get one of them; just haven't decided yet. I guess it'll depend on the money situation as the time gets closer.

We shall co-ordinate for sure, mr. 2.2 shelby :P

BlueBaron
05-30-2010, 03:36 PM
I'd say go for it, record the whole event, make a SDAC-20 DVD and sell it when done editing :D

Dave, all I can picture is the $$ camera equipment blowing over and hitting pavement at your wedding shoot. (in the park)

jonnyb
06-01-2010, 04:55 PM
I'd say go for it, record the whole event, make a SDAC-20 DVD and sell it when done editing :D

Should be easy to recoup the rental fee that way, plus the experience you gain with the camera and new editing techniques is a bonus :thumb:

Easy to recoup the fee? I wouldn't be so sure about that. At SDAC-13 we had our own camera, but between the cost of camera media and creating DVD's and VHS tapes (yup - back then VHS tapes were the preferred medium most SDAC'ers wanted to buy), we never recouped all our costs and ended up with a loss (nevermind the hundreds of hours put into shooting, sifting through the media and editing). We sold about 5 VHS tapes and about 5 DVD's (I think we asked for like $20-30 so it wasn't an outrageous amount of money) and the DVD's we sold were quickly ripped to hard disk and put up on the internet thereby ending the ability to any further sales (why pay when you can get it on the internet for free, right?).

So if you do it, do it because you want to do it - not because you're thinking about making any money - or even about recouping rental costs...LOL! I myself think it's a great idea and wouldn't mind kicking in some $$$ if you need help renting the stuff.

Jon

sdac guy
06-01-2010, 05:28 PM
....

So if you do it, do it because you want to do it - not because you're thinking about making any money - or even about recouping rental costs...LOL! I myself think it's a great idea and wouldn't mind kicking in some $$$ if you need help renting the stuff.

Jon+1000 Jon!

I remember your dvd well too. I used to compile the SDAC videos on VHS tape and it was a ton of work to edit the footage between two VCR's. We sold the 2 tape sets for each SDAC for $20 and never sold many. We gave away far more as door prizes in later years than we ever sold.

When your dvd was made and I saw the quality of the editing and compiling, with the music, I was very impressed and noted to myself that I could never approach that good of a job on our tapes.

Of course today it is much easier to edit videos on the pc, but the market just isn't there. And like you say, there is no respect for electronic media of any kind.

Such a shame it is like that.

Barry

turboshad
06-01-2010, 06:12 PM
I think the key, if you are trying to sell some, is to pull an all nighter on Tuesday so they can be for sale on the last day of SDAC. You would sell way more while people are still hyped on the week.

jonnyb
06-01-2010, 07:10 PM
Thanks Barry. And yup - the same thing with me - I ended up giving away more than I ever sold. So it was a good thing we did it because we wanted to, and not really for the money. However, it was a lesson learned because when we gauged interest, it seemed as though we would sell around 50-100 copies with mostly VHS so we bought 50 DVD-R's and 100 VHS just in case. OOOOPS...LOL!

Thankfully we eventually used the stuff for other projects, but definitely a lesson learned about how many people will say they'll buy something and how many people will actually buy something...LOL!

Unfortunately, I don't have any of the media anymore otherwise I'd try to put something together and post it up to give you more inspiration DSC. The only thing I might still have is something that's massively compressed to what was considered huge for the internet back then (probably a couple MB...LOL) and I'm not so sure a fuzzy mess like that would give you much inspiration to go out and rent that high end camera :D

BadAssPerformance
06-01-2010, 07:19 PM
Hey Johnny, I saw that video at a CL meet years ago and thought it was great. I wasnt on the forums back then (only SDML and MML) and musta missed the sale... any chance you still have any copies you'd be willing to sell?

sdac guy
06-01-2010, 07:29 PM
Hey Johnny, I saw that video at a CL meet years ago and thought it was great. I wasnt on the forums back then (only SDML and MML) and musta missed the sale... any chance you still have any copies you'd be willing to sell? I bought a copy of Jonny's DVD back in the day and I still have it here somewhere. If I can find it, I'll bring it and you can copy it. NOT!! :lol::lol:

Barry

BadAssPerformance
06-01-2010, 07:37 PM
I bought a copy of Jonny's DVD back in the day and I still have it here somewhere. If I can find it, I'll bring it and you can copy it. NOT!! :lol::lol:

Barry

LOL, too funny... wait, bring it to SDAC and we can watch it on the side of somebodys trailer ... and I'll bring my camera and get a bootleg copy! :D LOL, I kid I kid...


Seriously now, I got cash if you got a DVD Johnny :thumb: I need it for my collection, I think I've got most of the SDAC videos made :)

jonnyb
06-02-2010, 12:16 AM
Sorry, like I said, I don't have any of the media or the equipment anymore, but feel free to go ahead and make a copy of Barry's (or anyone elses) DVD if you can get a copy. Heck, go ahead and make multiple copies and hand them out to people for free if you're so inclined - the JonnyB copyright infringement period has long since expired :D

Here's the really compressed intro video I mentioned before (compressed down to a whopping 4.5 MB which was more than most could handle downloading back in 2003...LOL):

SDAC-13 Teaser Video (www.sdacne.com/videos/sdac13_0501.wmv)

turboshad
06-02-2010, 03:27 PM
That was awsome!! :clap:

dodgeshadowchik
06-04-2010, 12:03 AM
Yeah, I was going to to this for fun really. I thew the idea up there to give the stuff away if ppl expressed interested and wanted to help offset the video camera rental cost; but that's it. I don't mind making things for this community, since you guys are the best around! :)

That video was sweet btw!! :D Thanks for sharing! I'll more then likely rent something, and we'll see what happens from there!

BlueBaron
06-05-2010, 11:06 AM
Wow, that video was 7 years old, but the cars all look the same. :D

LaserXT1986
06-05-2010, 04:05 PM
Easy to recoup the fee? I wouldn't be so sure about that. At SDAC-13 we had our own camera, but between the cost of camera media and creating DVD's and VHS tapes (yup - back then VHS tapes were the preferred medium most SDAC'ers wanted to buy), we never recouped all our costs and ended up with a loss (nevermind the hundreds of hours put into shooting, sifting through the media and editing). We sold about 5 VHS tapes and about 5 DVD's (I think we asked for like $20-30 so it wasn't an outrageous amount of money) and the DVD's we sold were quickly ripped to hard disk and put up on the internet thereby ending the ability to any further sales (why pay when you can get it on the internet for free, right?).

So if you do it, do it because you want to do it - not because you're thinking about making any money - or even about recouping rental costs...LOL! I myself think it's a great idea and wouldn't mind kicking in some $$$ if you need help renting the stuff.

Jon

Well no disrespect was intended, it was simply an idea. That said, comparing video editing in 2003 to 2010 is like comparing Windows 7 to a Commodore 64 -- you cannot compare the two. Sure it took longer, and sure it was more expensive as burning DVD's back then (let alone VHS) was more time consuming than it is now.

And by "recouping fee" I was referring to the fee of the camera rental only. Obviously the editing would be a labor of love (and before anyone starts saying I cannot appreciate the time involved, I have done many a "labor of love" myself with respect to SDAC and things related to SDAC, in my specific trade). It's part of being part of the TM community. And as an added bonus to help the "labor of love", see below.

That said, if it will help, I'll donate 125 brand new blank DVD's with white coating (so that an image can be printed onto directly if desired). How's that for helping? I'll bring them to SDAC, in case DodgeChick does want to do this. Fair enough?:D

dodgeshadowchik
06-05-2010, 05:10 PM
I'd be down for making a video of the event. Like I mentioned before, since I'll be car-less; I'll have all kinds of time to video tape and photograph you all! I don't expect to make money off this... it's more or less just recovering some of the cost of the camera rental; like mentioned. The turbo dodge community is my favorite group of people (yes, JT even though I now own 3 dsms, i STILL prefer FWD turbo mopars!) , so anything I can do to contribute is alright by me!

Aries_Turbo
06-06-2010, 12:55 AM
I bought one of those VHS tapes. that thing was AWESOME! i still watch it from time to time.

brian

badandy
06-06-2010, 09:10 AM
Yup I bought the DVD's...sitting right here in front of me in fact!

BlueBaron
06-07-2010, 03:07 AM
I have done many a "labor of love" myself...

Like sitting in your shop at 3am choreographing music for your wedding?
:p

jonnyb
06-07-2010, 07:01 AM
Dave - no worries! I was just commenting that recouping fees may not turn out to be an easy feat and to be careful about outlaying an absorbent amount of money renting/buying stuff to make the video.

And you're right - the ability to make videos has changed a lot in the last 7 years, but that change is really about low cost/free software being available for easier editing for the hobbyist home user and not really about any difference in ease of actual editing. The playing field was leveled for me back then - my ex was a sales rep for Media 100 and we had a couple $100K systems in our home office back then. So I had all the power that the pros had (well, not quite as high end as an AVID system, but if it was good enough to edit Blair Witch Project, it was good enough for me...LOL!). And all that equipment was available to me for no cost - except "my labor of love" :D

30 PSI SHADOW
06-07-2010, 12:00 PM
That was awsome!! :clap:

Got to love the legendary wheel standing,cone tipping camo,of my shadow comp. car at the end. God that car is fun!!

sdac guy
06-21-2010, 02:47 PM
I bought a copy of Jonny's DVD back in the day and I still have it here somewhere. If I can find it, I'll bring it and you can copy it. NOT!! :lol::lol:

BarryI found my DVD's (there are two in the set) that Jon made. I just watched some of it. Wow does that bring back memories!

Brian Slowe's hood popping up while drag racing, Brock Yates Jr autocrossing his dually pickup, the Falco brothers in the early 60's Plymouth vert ... good times!

And as I said above, I will bring them.

Barry

contraption22
06-21-2010, 03:27 PM
I found my DVD's (there are two in the set) that Jon made. I just watched some of it. Wow does that bring back memories!

Brian Slowe's hood popping up while drag racing, Brock Yates Jr autocrossing his dually pickup, the Falco brothers in the early 60's Plymouth vert ... good times!

And as I said above, I will bring them.

Barry

I heard a rumor that these videos contained some idiot in a blue Horizon making a full dragstrip pass with the ebrake on, dragging one tire the length of the track. Was it on there?

sdac guy
06-21-2010, 04:22 PM
I didn't watch that much of it. And I don't recall it.



Barry

Aries_Turbo
06-21-2010, 10:35 PM
i sure do! ;) hehe

it was still fast too. :)

Brian