Best camera $800-900 max for recording church service?

[tosvus]

Hi,

Trying to help my pastor find a camera, no more than $800-900 to shoot services at church. The camera will be placed in the rear, so it needs fairly good zoom, and have decent low light capabilities (but by no means super). A Mic input is required to route audio from the sound system into the camera. The output will be 1080p on Vimeo, but flexible on framerates. AVCHD is a no-no as he has problems getting his mac's to play nice with those.. Lower bitrates are probably ok, but of course higher options are good. I think he wants to do as little as possible with the video normally.

I don't think there are dslr/lens combos that will do in that price-range, but if you have ideas let me know. (a relatively fast lense will quickly add up..)

I'm thinking something along the line of the Pana FZ1000 or the Sony RX10 (not II, that is way out of budget) would be the closest? I see the 4K on the Pana as having some potential for the church later, but get the feeling for 1080p the codecs are better on the RX10 (with latest firmware), and the lens is faster (not as long, but it doesn't really need to be). The Panasonic is a bit cheaper though. I would expect both of these cameras can shoot more than 30 minutes at a time, though I did not confirm this.(?)

Any other options come to mind, or any thoughts about the FZ1000 vs the RX10 (mk1)?

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

[Martin BetterFly]

I think you should take for consideration the recording time limits on those cameras, I have recently downgrated some of my grear back to canon 600d with magic lantern from sony a6000 and a5100 just cause with ML I have auto recording restart option. Maybe you should consider good old camcorder instead of mirrorless or dslr as they are not desiged for long recording times.

[tosvus]

I think you should take for consideration the recording time limits on those cameras, I have recently downgrated some of my grear back to canon 600d with magic lantern from sony a6000 and a5100 just cause with ML I have auto recording restart option. Maybe you should consider good old camcorder instead of mirrorless or dslr as they are not desiged for long recording times.

Thanks, I went back and checked, and both have the 30 minute limit. It probably isn't an issue as the most important portion of the service rarely runs more than 20 mins, but something to keep in mind. ML is probably not something we want to mess with. I personally own a GH3 and that would be fine but I know if they get one, they would have to get a decent lens too.

Camcorders as far as I know, are out of the question since all I have seen record AVCHD.

EDIT: There does appear to be some camcorders that record to mp4 these days, so it looks like it could be an option as well. Not sure about low light quality though.

 

[Inazuma]

Maybe a used D5300 and Tokina 80-200mm f2.8? I got that lens for £250 ($400) on ebay. 

[tosvus]

Maybe a used D5300 and Tokina 80-200mm f2.8? I got that lens for £250 ($400) on ebay. 

Thanks, definitely an option!

[Mat Mayer]

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-HC-WX970-Camcorder-Built--Camera/

4k = future proof

camcorder = no time limit

price = $850

20x optical zoom, easy to use, HDR movie so no exposure expertise needed, interesting sounding twin camera function for close ups of the pastor from phone. No reviews below 4 stars. "Real-Time Broadcasting* — You can live-stream events on USTREAM as they are being recorded in Full-HD resolution."

Sounds like it should be ideal to me, plus Panasonic is a great video brand.

[tosvus]

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-HC-WX970-Camcorder-Built--Camera/

4k = future proof

camcorder = no time limit

price = $850

20x optical zoom, easy to use, HDR movie so no exposure expertise needed, interesting sounding twin camera function for close ups of the pastor from phone. No reviews below 4 stars. "Real-Time Broadcasting* — You can live-stream events on USTREAM as they are being recorded in Full-HD resolution."

Sounds like it should be ideal to me, plus Panasonic is a great video brand.

Thanks Mat, I really like that one! Not 100% sure about low light capability yet, will have to research more, but it does have a lens that is very fast on the wide end. The dual camera function could be very neat too. (close up and wide at the same time). Live-stream sounds really cool too. I have tried to convince the pastor to get a solution that can do that as well

[TheRenaissanceMan]

A GH3 or G6 with a vintage lens or two could do the trick if the operator can manual focus. 

[tosvus]

A GH3 or G6 with a vintage lens or two could do the trick if the operator can manual focus. 

Thanks, agreed, but the people helping are very variable skills-wise and sometimes they need set and forget. If I could do it every week myself, it would have been a very good solution!

An option could also be to use this as an excuse to buy myself a new camera and donate the gh3. Then they could spend the money on a decent lens instead. Need some agreement from the mrs on this one though..