A wise person once said, “The best camera is the one you have with you.” The take-away meaning here is that any camera is better than no camera when you need to capture something important. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of different video cameras made today. With so many options available for to the church tech, my hope is to provide some selection tips from the church filmmaking and live production perspective.
First you should figure out for what purpose you need a camera, 1) live production and IMAG or, 2) filmmaking and video production. Depending on your needs, the cameras will be very different. You also need to determine your budget, keeping in mind that a camera is just one piece of the puzzle you need to build a great system.
As a church filmmaker, I will start with some shopping tips for cameras made for filmmaking or video production. Keep in mind, you can use just about any camera to shoot a video, and they can range from a GoPro Hero (starting at $129) to an Arri Alexa (starting around $80,000). You can even use a live production-oriented camera to shoot a film, but most times the opposite is not true. Many great cameras made for filmmaking do not make practical IMAG or live production cameras. You can certainly interchange the two, but each type is made for a purpose in mind.
As filmmaking goes, for smaller churches with limited budgets, DSLR still cameras that also do video such as the Canon 5D Mark III ($2,499) or the 7D mark II ($1,699) are a great place to start. A DSLR will give you the shallow depth of field for a more cinematic look, as opposed to a camcorder like the Sony PXW-X70 ($2,299) or the Canon XF-300 ($3,999) that will give you more of an ENG (electronic news gathering) video look with greater depth of field. Both are great cameras, it just depends on the look and style you are going for.
There are pros and cons to both types of cameras. For a camcorder, the main downside will be the aesthetic appearance of the image it produces compared to a more cinematic looking camera. The main downside to a DSLR is that, in the more affordable products, the audio capture is rather primitive. One work-around is to use an outboard digital recorder with better mic preamps such as the Tascam DR-100 ($300) or a Zoom H4n ($200) that records higher quality audio. You can then sync with your video in post-production. Also, DSLR cameras are almost always most effectively used in full manual mode, which means manually setting exposure and focus based on what you are shooting. This requires knowledge, experience and skill. [Editor's Note: Learn more about how to shoot video using manual settings here.
Camcorders have the benefit of automatic settings that can make shooting less challenging. On the higher end of the scale there are cameras like the new Canon C100 mark II ($5,499), or if you have 4K needs, the Canon C500 ($15,999). The Canon EOS C cameras have the best of both worlds as they combine DSLR features with high-end camcorder features such as quality built-in ND filters, an articulating LED display, and higher quality built-in audio with XLR preamps and phantom power, eliminating the need for external audio recorders. Plus, the images these cameras produce is just amazing. If you have needs for multiple frame rates higher than 60p, look at a camera like the Sony FS7 ($7,999) that will record up to 180fps in HD.
In the live production arena, there are also dozens of choices on the market, and there likely more elements to consider when building your system around your cameras. First, you need to consider the resolution you need to shoot and how that comes into play with your switcher, distribution and display gear. The type of lens you use will be a big factor, as camera bodies and lenses are often sold separately. The size of your room and distance from the subjects you are shooting will play a deciding factor in what focal length lens you pair with your camera. In a live production environment where the camera is toward the middle or back of a room, the longer shooting distance to the stage area will require a longer lens. You will also want to outfit these cameras with studio packages. These typically consist of a heavy duty tripod or pedestal, a decent size viewfinder, a manual focus control cable, a zoom control, a high end output such as digital SDI and a control unit usually located in the control room.
Of course you also have handheld camera options, remote pan-tilt options and jib or crane options depending on how intense you want to get in production for your services. In this environment, you will want something a bit more rugged, easy to zoom and focus, easy to frame with durable, high quality signal outputs. Typically a DSLR style camera would not be the practical choice for this application. Cameras suitable for this application can range from the Hitachi Hitachi SK-UHD4000, Panasonic AG-HPX255 ($4,995) or the new Sony 4K XDCAM ($10,499) to the new Black Magic 4K Studio Camera ($2,995) or the Black Magic URSA 4K ($5,995) that are challenging the conventional ways studio and live production cameras are designed and used.
Know your needs before you shop. Buy a camera with the features you know you need in your application. There's nothing worse than spending a lot of money on a camera that doesn't do what you need it to do, or is missing that one key feature that you absolutely can't do without.
For post-production, image quality and codec are important. If you are editing your footage, be sure your computer can handle the files that your camera generates and your editor can play them back efficiently.
And don't forget the support gear for your camera. A good camera is not as effective without a high-quality tripod, batteries, lens caps and most importantly the media it records to. It's important not to skimp on these accessories because they are vital to your camera's functionality and longevity.
There are obviously more features to consider such as built in wi-fi, media types, sensor size and type, color sampling, ISO ratings, lens choices, batteries, and output connectors. This is why it's important to do your homework. Get advice from other church techs and video production companies in your area.
Remember, the best camera is the one you have with you. Whichever camera you decide to go with, don't forget the purpose of the camera itself. That purpose is to capture what is worth capturing. As church techs and creatives, we have one of the most important jobs in the world, to creatively spread the Gospel. So whatever camera you use, make sure your capturing a message worth watching.
