Originally posted by: Kaido
Originally posted by: StarsFan4Life
FANTASTIC reply! You are awesome Kaido! Thanks so much for this....I have been eyeing the HF100 for awhile now and can get it for $589 shipped from buydig(reliable?) if needed today!
np
🙂
Yah Buydig is super awesome, go ahead and buy from them.
There are two kinds of batteries to choose from: standard and high capacity. You can get cheapies off Amazon or eBay; be sure to get a car charger in case you run into a pinch at your wedding and need some juice ASAP. Sterlingtek also makes great aftermarket batteries if you want to go with a better-known brand. Standard batteries last 40 minutes on the low side, so expect about that with yours - don't plan on them working for what is advertised lol. My advice is just to get a bunch of cheapies, then you can rotate them and always have one charging and you're not out a ton of cash.
The HF100 also shoots at 30p, which you may want to do instead of 24p because it will look good online, you don't have to de-interlace it (less editing work), and you can play it back on your PS3 or whatever and it will look great.
An 8gb card will last about an hour for video, they run less than $20 at most places like Newegg. You'll want to get a Class 6 card (those are the fast ones). They also have 16gb cards which get around 2 hours of video but are usually a few bucks more expensive. Here are a couple good value cards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820211180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820183193
One more thing to add to your list, get a 37mm UV filter. They should be about $10 anywhere. This is your "lens protection". It doesn't really do anything for your picture quality, but it will protect your built-in lens from scratches, dust, water, etc. You'll feel much better about replacing a scratched or damanged $10 UV filter than you will a $600 camera lens
😉 You can also find good knockoff lenses for cheap, I have a wide-angle plus macro kit that was around $30 on Amazon. The macro would be good for getting shots of your rings (although the Canons do a decent "small" macro) and the wide-angle would be good for getting shots of the whole family.
Get a good bag, cheap is fine. I like the MiniDV camcorder bags shaped like small lunchboxes, they are large enough to hold the camera, accessories, plus a bunch of batteries and cards and stuff. Just make sure it's padded. You definitely want a bag so that you can just check all the camera stuff together.
As far as making your videos look great, again be sure to use a tripod and don't zoom in or out while recording. Really the only other thing you make your videos "pop" is color correction. You don't even have to be a pro at this, just pick up a package like Magic Bullet "Looks":
http://www.redgiantsoftware.co...on/magic-bullet-looks/
Import your footage, string some clips together with transitions and music, and then do some color correction and voila, a professional-looking high-definition video.
So as far as a shopping list goes:
1. Canon HF100 camera
2. A couple 8gb cards (nice to have at least one spare in case one dies)
3. A few cheapie batteries plus a combination wall/car charger (again a cheapie model is fine)
4. A tripod (photo if you're on a budget, fluid-head video if you can afford it or borrow one)
5. A good padded bag
6. A UV filter (to protect the lens)
7. Some color correction software (a lot of video editing packages have this built-in; Magic Bullet just makes it really easy with great results)
An external microphone is also good if you are interested in picking up vocals. The Rode VideoMic is probably the best consumer shotgun microphone on the market right now, runs about $150 if you can find it on sale. This will sound a lot better and cleaner than any onboard microphone on a video camera. However this isn't really a necessity for a wedding video because you'll probably be overlaying music to create a soundtrack for the video.
Oh and if you upload anything for friends/family be sure to use Vimeo, it's like a High-Def version of Youtube:
http://www.vimeo.com