[vet-mm] Video Cameras

Tue Aug 18 09:34:39 EST 2009

We have bought so many video cameras over the years. We have a fairly
large range of different brands and differing qualities. 

I have a couple similar to what Rachelle has just bought and they are
great. The high definition footage is brilliant but I really only use
these cameras for school events or senior student projects. The reason
being is that they are quite expensive (we paid $1200 each for ours) and
the students only have a limited amount of drive space at school anyway.

I have some that take memory cards and I find they are cheaper and easy
to use with students. I bought a couple of sonys this year for around
$450 that take a memory card and have 4gig internal memory. They usually
last 2 hours of recording. It really depends on how long you need to use
it for and how far away you are from a point in which you can download
the footage. The best thing about memory cards is that they can be taken
out and swapped so that more footage can be taken or the camera lent out
to another group of students. These cameras are really good to use with
middle school students. We also have a hybrid cam that takes mini dvd
and mem card. Although the mini dvd is probably usable, we just stick to
the cards because they are so easy and I can't really say much about the
mini dvd option.

I'd definitely advise you to go with the memory cards or internal
drives - say no to tapes! (apart from being annoying, the cameras that
take DV tape have too many moving parts which can be damaged quite
easily and they are not worth fixing when they are damaged) Also make
sure they have a good rechargeable battery (2 per camera is ideal)  and
they feel good in your hand. If they feel awkward then it is more likely
that students may drop them. We have a range of brands and they are all
good. I'm generally pleased with all of them however I do believe the
sony I mentioned above is the most impressive simply due to all the
connections (usb etc) being in logical places and it feels really good
to hold. I'm not at school so I can't give the exact model number. I'll
look at it tomorrow for you and let you know. 

We've also bought from lots of places but around Ballarat I find that
JB Hi Fi are indeed the cheapest by far. They were really easy to set up
a school account with too and we use them all the time for purchasing
cameras, vids, speakers, mp3 players and other audio equipment. Oh, and
I buy all of our camera bags from cheap places like the reject shop or
the warehouse. We've only ever had a clip break on one and they have had
their fair share of use over the years! Don't forget to budget for some
tripods too - a must for film making. Invest in sturdy ones as they do
get carted all over the place.

Hope all this is helpful.

Jeanean

Jeanean Pritchard
Media/Music/Arts
Highview College
Maryborough Vic
jpritchard at highview.vic.edu.au

>>> "Mclean, Rachelle L" <Mclean.Rachelle.L at edumail.vic.gov.au>
18/08/2009 8:23 am >>>
We just bought 6 new digital video cams. Sony HDR-XR100. 80gig hard
drive. Up to 33 hrs recording. 1920x1080 high def recording. 4.0 mega
pixel still images.  They are great.  No more tapes. yay!! Bought them
from Lanmark computers. Got them to throw in some camera bags.

Cheers,

Rachelle McLean
Hallam Senior College

________________________________

From: vet-mm-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of rob at netspace.net.au 
Sent: Mon 17/08/2009 8:41 PM
To: VET Multimedia Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [vet-mm] Video Cameras

At Thomastown we want to buy some Video Cameras for use in the new
Media course
next year and in other areas of the curriculum. I am was wondering if
anyone on
this list could provide tips on what cameras are best for this purpose
and the
best place to buy them. I am sure many of you will already have
answered this
questions.
Thanks
Rob Byrne

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