Ted Hinkle

What does NLE mean? I've checked on rental prices in the area I'm doing the shoot and my only choices are a Sony PD-150 for $150/day or the Sony HVR-Z1U $110/day. These prices are from two different companies I found it a bit funny that the Z1U is cheaper somewhere else. I'm not familiar with down converting. Since I would have to return the Z1U and I wont be able to bring it back to my editing suite, can I down convert from one camera to another? In other words can I down convert fro the Z1U and record the footage onto a SD miniDV camera? At home I'll only be able to capture SD since I don't have any way of playing HD.

This is a completely ridiculous idea. Your asking people to pay for something they haven't even seen yet. Like were all supposed to put down $3000 and just trust that the camera would come out just the way we all want it. Sounds like your the dreamer! I think there are simply to many people here trying to make super 8 into something it's not. Super 8 is not meant to be HD and it's not meant get the most clearest sharpest picture. It's loved for it's soft and grainy character. It's a format that will never be replaced and there will always be a demand. It may not be the biggest money making plan, but the thought of a super 8 camera made with today's technology is nothing less of a noble idea. That's quite an insult to call the entire super 8 community a bunch of broke dreamers!

Yeah that's kinda what I figured, but since it's in the budget (even if I get lights, it's still in the budget), I'd like to get my hands wet using some other cameras. How else would I get experience with other cameras unless I paid someone to show me?

I would say that a good comparison to Super 8mm would be vinyl records. So ask yourself are they still being made??? Is there still a need??? YES they absolutely are still being made, and there is still a great demand/need for them. Almost all indie labels are still creating vinyl. Ask yourself WHY? People are still buying them! Look at how many people today are trying to get into the film industry. Where do they get there start? Many of those people buying cameras on ebay are going through college or film school. While there may be a lot of super 8 cameras on ebay, many of them breaking and there's simply not near as many places to fix them if they even can be fixed. More simply put there about as expensive to fix as they are to buy. I think it would be amazing if someone started making new cameras. Someone mentioned earlier that they should come up with a basic body for a nice decent price then allow for people to purchase add ons. Maybe something like a digital viewfinder a couple different lenses and you name it. But I think the basic body would have to go for around $500 or $600 for there to enough people interested in buying it. If someone is seriously considering getting this going they should get in touch with Clive Tobin. There was a really interesting article on him in the May/June issue of "Super 8 Today" www.super8today.com. He had some interesting thoughts on how "20 fps would have been the ideal speed for Super-8." Another thing to consider is that super 8 is becoming widely popular among wedding videographers, who are a dime a dozen these days. I can say that because I am one.

You mention the affordability of the camera only however you don't address the cost of the film which can dramatically increase with the cost of 16mm. You should see some of footage converted from 4:3 to 16:9 done by pro8 (www.pro8mm.com) I was in their shop the other day and saw some incredible footage converted to 16:9 from some old super 8 footage shot on a movie set back in the 50's. It looked amazingly good.

Thanks for your reply. I do like my sony VX2000 and I'm probably going to bring it, but since I have the $$$ in the budget, I do want to get my hands more familiar working with different cameras and I do have 1 day before the shoot to get myself familiar with whatever cameras I choose. I've been told the Sony Pd 150 is very similar to the VX2000 and that the only big difference is the XLR inputs, is this true? I'm pretty much ruling out the idea of shooting this instructional in HD but are the HD cameras good for shooting SD? I have found a few places where I can rent a Panasonic AG-HVX200 or a Sony HVR-Z1U? I guess I'm just excited about having a budget that gives me the option to use these cameras, but maybe I should just keep it simple and make sure I do the best I can with my knowledge and experince level. I'm self employed so any job training I'll have to pay for myself. I'm not ruling that out, but I only have 1 month before the shoot. I'm not worried about converting to pal since this product will only be distributed in the US.

I need to figure out which camera to use shooting my first instructional video. I've got a nice budget to work with. I'm figuring about $300 per day to rent a camera rather than use my sony vx2000. I'm going to be setting up sound and I'll need something with xlr inputs. I've got a few concerns as to which camera to get. While I feel comfortable with the Sony vx-2000 I have not really used many other cameras so I don't want to rent something that's I'm going to be unsure of the outcome or be fumbling around with in front of the client. But I do want something that's going to give me a nice picture. I've looked at some of the newer cameras with high def and 24p but I'm wondering if worth me messing with on this project. We'll be making about 3500 copies of our DVD this year and probably 8000 next year. This instructional video will be for a new home appliance.

I need to figure out which camera to use shooting my first instructional video. I've got a nice budget to work with. I'm figuring about $300 per day to rent a camera rather than use my sony vx2000. I'm going to be setting up sound and I'll need something with xlr inputs. I've got a few concerns as to which camera to get. While I feel comfortable with the Sony vx-2000 I have not really used many other cameras so I don't want to rent something that's I'm going to be unsure of the outcome or be fumbling around with in front of the client. But I do want something that's going to give me a nice picture. I've looked at some of the newer cameras with high def and 24p but I'm wondering if worth me messing with on this project. We'll be making about 3500 copies of our DVD this year and probably 8000 next year. This instructional video will be for a new home appliance.

Thanks... That's pretty much what I was thinking, but does anybody have any suggestions on specifically what three point light set-up would be pretty safe to go with. Or what lights I should rent? What would my equipment list consist of? One thing I'm concerned with is that there might be some tight little shots inside of the appliance to demonstrate maintenance of the product.

Ok this is my first big shoot. I own a wedding video business and have always used the lighting of my natural surroundings, but now we've started to take on the business field and we've been hired to do an intructional video for an indoor home heating appliance. The video is going to be shot in their showroom which makes it look like a person's house. The video will include a detailed description of how to care for and clean the appliance. At this point we're unsure wether or not we'll be shooting somebody explaining how their appliance works or just showing a hand in the frame doing the work while a voiceover explains what to do. In either case we want to be prepared to have something for lighting. I have very minimal experience when it come to lighting. I want to keep it really simple. Any suggestions for what I'll need for lighting???