My camera

[Fromourankles]

i have a canon zr200

and i was wondering is it any good for film making?

just wondering if anyones used one of has one

thanks!

[WesScog]

Theres nothing wrong with the Cam.

BUT, it has two major limitations other than the reduced resolution of the picture in comparison to more expensive Camera's, and that is that it doesn't have an external mic jack to hook up a boom mic too it, and it doesn't have a focus ring, which means you can't control the depth of field real well.

You can shoot film with it fine, it's just you're most likely not going to have amazing audio, but there are easy tricks around that.

1. After you're done shooting a scene, put the lens cap on, and record your actors lines again, only get them to stand very close to it like they are speaking into a microphone.

This audio will be much loader and cleaner, and you'll be able to take the blank sections (since with the lens cap on there won't be any picture) load it into a editing program, cut out the black picture, and edit the audio into the good picture one.

2. You don't really NEED a focus ring, BUT it's nice to have as much manual control over your picture as possible.

Other than that, there is nothing wrong with it, you can use it for shooting film's easy. Go at it man.

[Fromourankles]

thanks a lot

what if i hooked up a microphone to an amp?
and then did the scene

[WesScog]

thanks a lot

what if i hooked up a microphone to an amp?
and then did the scene


If you have something to record the audio of the scene with using a boom mic, it doesn't really matter what Camera you're shooting with.

All that matters if that you're able to edit it together later in editing, thats why you want a clapper, someone to clap right in front of the camera right before the scene starts so that you'll be able to synch it up to their hand clap.

[Fromourankles]

oooh

how much does a boom mic cost?

[Fromourankles]

and where would i find one

[WesScog]

I think it'd be a good moment for me to post my Boom mic tutorial.

You don't need to buy a boom mic, you just need to buy a decent microphone and hook it up to a recording platform.

A cassette recorder is a bad idea, to record with, a digital recorder is better, but thats not the important part.

But to make a Boom mic..

Get a length of PVC tubing, for my Boom, I used about 7-8 feet of PVC tubing, it started out looking like this, you can get it in the plumbing department.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2765/pvccs0.jpg

It's about 4 inches in circumfrence, about 1.25 inches in diameter, normal everyday PVC tubing.

Then, go to a music store and get a MIC STAND ADAPTER, not a whole mic stand, I got one similar to this for about 2 dollars, not bad.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5424/mc1it5.jpg

Next, get your microphone, most normal mic's will do fine if you're going to be using a external Digital Recorder, it should power mic's if they need Phantom Power. (Phantom Power means that they need to be connected to something that can energize them so they can record, as opposed to mic's with internal batteries.)

Well the mic stand part fits PERFECTLY into the end of the PVC tube, first I sprayed good stuff foam into either end, and because it didn't reach all the way to the center, I drilled a tiny hole and squirted some into there too.

Well, also got a threaded bolt (basically a screw without a pointed end or a head) that fit the mic adapter perfectly, and that was a few inches long, I screwed it into the mic adapter, and I shoved it into the foam, and epoxied it into the end of the tube firmly.

I let it dry for a few days, and it's a wonderful mic, that I build for about... 12 dollars or so.

Using a broom stick and duct tape you can attach the Mic Adapter for even cheaper, really most sticks will work.

I also attached a couple of pieces of foam for handles for the operator, and I spray painted the entire thing black, this all was unnecessary, but I thought it looked cool, plus the PVC was kind of shiny, and I didn't want it reflecting any light onto my scene.

Here is the finished project.

The head:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5274/img1966ey8.jpg


And here is the full mic. It took about 3 days to full dry, and it took me a day to build (most of it waiting for things to dry, or finding the parts.)

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1762/img1965sr0.jpg

[Fromourankles]

awesome thanks
and props on the tutorial

[John the Fish]

I believe that the zr200 has very limited manual settings, so It controls the image more than you do, which is a negative. It only has shutterspeed, white balance, and manual focus, so use all of them to the best of your ability. It doesn't provide great image quality, but if you convey a story well, and shoot it good, the image quality wont matter too much.