I am looking to outfit a church with good cameras that are not cost prohibitive, and that can be used for multiple purposes, both in the auditorium, and out on activities. Can studio cameras be used away from the studio? I know almost nothing about them, but see plenty for sale at good prices.

I am looking to outfit a church with good cameras that are not cost prohibitive, and that can be used for multiple purposes, both in the auditorium, and out on activities. Can studio cameras be used away from the studio? I know almost nothing about them, but see plenty for sale at good prices.


What do you mean by a "studio camera?" And while we're at it, what in your mind is a "good price?" A real broadcast studio camera can easily run to several ten's of thousands or even hundred's of thousands of dollars.

I work in the media department at a church in Omaha. I think that if you're just starting out then you should start with HDV. I would recommend one Canon XL H1 for your main camera and at least two XH G1s for side cameras. You could also buy an XH A1 just for things that aren't part of the in house stuff. Make sure that you get plenty of computer power to support HDV. I use Final Cut Studio on a MacBook Pro, but if you're going to do all the editing in house then you should probably use a Mac Pro with Final Cut Studio.

I would recommend one Canon XH A1 for your main camera and at least two XH G1s for side cameras. Why would you recommend a $4000 product as a main camera and two $7000 products as side cameras? That doesn't really make much sense. It's not sound advice at all.

For Ron -- if you don't need High Definition cameras, you can either save a lot of money, or buy a more capable standard definition system than what you would get for the same money spent on HD.

Why would you recommend a $4000 product as a main camera and two $7000 products as side cameras? That doesn't really make much sense. It's not sound advice at all.

For Ron -- if you don't need High Definition cameras, you can either save a lot of money, or buy a more capable standard definition system than what you would get for the same money spent on HD.

I meant to say an XL H1, not an XH A1.

I recommend a set of GL2's if all you need is SD.

Fully agreed, three GL2 camcorders would be an excellent choice for less than $7500 total. They can be utilized in both studio and field configurations easily.

I would imagine that the church environment wouldn't require any more than a 2 camera shoot. Check into used 2/3 inch studio setups like the Ikegamis or Sony DXCs. I don't believe that 1/3" chips will be up to the task of low light and long zoom. A lot of these cameras can be had for a good price because they are not progressive/24p/hd etc., Good Luck.

It depends on how big the church is. We have like 5 or 6 Beta SPs.

I guess what I am looking for is info about Studio Cameras. As I understand it, a studio camera does not record to tape, but runs a line directly to a deck, and many that I have seen for sale are much less expensive than even a GL2. The GL2 is a great little camera, and I am also very familiar with the Sony HVR Z1U, which I do most of my shooting with. But I have little need even in my production company for HD yet, much less for church services. So I am looking at the feasibility of a Studio Camera set-up, and wanted to know if it can be configured for field use, as well as static use in an auditorium.

Thanks for your suggestions!

You say "cameras" in the plural. The cameras that are priced in the same ballpark as consumer camcorders would probably be for security, etc, applic ations and not really suitable for broadcast. If you could say just what you plan to DO with the cameras we might be able to help better. When you say "studio camera" I tend to think of something that might be used in the studio to shoot the evening news broadcast on one of the local TV channels, for example, probably with live switching between multiple cameras. Such a camera is not likely to be cheaper than a GL2 by a long shot.

i am sure that you will be happy with 2 VX2100 in full auto mode.

OK, let me rephrase the whole question:

The venue I am wanting to outfit with cameras is unimportant.

There are cameras that record to tape, that can be carried to the field, etc. Then there are cameras which do not have any self-contained recording mechanisms, and require a separate recording deck to be connected by cables. What I am wanting to know is something more about these cameras with no recording mechanisms, which I believe are referred to as Studio Cameras. However, I might be wrong. I have been wrong before. No, really. I have!

Can they be outfitted with a recording mechanism, such as a portable hard drive and carried out of the studio environment? Or is there no way to attach a battery pack to a "Studio Camera?"

So far, I have not encountered anybody with any experience with this type of camera, since the vast majority of us use highly portable camera systems with tape recording and battery pack capabilities.

Just trying to find out if the cameras I have seen are worth investing in. Here is an example of what I have been seeing on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Professional-SONY-DXC-3000-STUDIO-COLOR-VIDEO-CAMERA_W0QQitemZ120106597470QQihZ002QQcategoryZ107938QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for your input!

Honestly Ron those antiques are just not worth the trouble. Save yourself the hassle and the headache of making a dinosaur like that into a working configuration, because you won't know when it'll die on you (usually happens at the worst time). Anything like a GL2 or VX2100 is going to give you a better picture, will be much easier to carry around, and most importantly will be covered by factory warranty.

Thanks, Chris -

Your statement about the relic cameras is probably very accurate.

I am not at all familiar with them, and I totally agree with your assessment of having new cameras and all the pluses that go with that.

I guess I am just a pack rat who has a hard time passing up a good potential bargain, and I do my best to try to save money when I can. My money tree hasn't grown any money in a long time, and I am starting to believe what Grandma said when she told me that money DOESN'T grow on trees. She might just be right after all...

Ron has tried to steer this discussion towards studio camaras quite a few times now and had to be frank, some very odd answers.

If he wants studio cameras then it isn't just a case of the lack of a recorder in each unit. It is the extra facilities that a 'real' studio camera has that make them much better at the job they are intended for.

Studio cameras tend to have:

Remote zoom from the rear (on the right pan handle) and
Remote focus- either with a bowden cable (expensive) or with a servo (very expensive)
Manual control of exposure - pretty essential if the idea is to match shots
Manual control of colour balance - as above
The facility to display the mixed output in the camera viewfinder - really useful when you insert the ouput from one camera into another and need to offset the framing of the picture to cope with the insert.
Communications - you do need to talk to the camera ops
Tally lights - damn useful for the talent to know which camera to favour.
Nice big viewfinder.

If we are not talking about recording in-camera, then quality,in resolution terms isn't likely to be a major issue.

Now - you can bodge up some of these features to use your camcorder as a studio camera, but it is always a compromise - even with top end camcorders. JVC in the 500 series had a version with a proper studio option - DV onboard, but with a real multipin camera output that could be connected to a CCU for studio operation with a single cable handling all the video, power, tally and control circuits - this obviously wasn't that popular because it disappeared. They now do a studio mount that allows the 100 series HD camcorders to have studio facilities which is nice.

It amazes me that places with quite sensible budgets buy consumer, or prosumer equipment to do important things. In fact, you could source second hand studio kit that would give much, much better results. Look for people who claim to be upgrading to HD (colleges, schools, universities, corporate) who often dispose of their hardly used studio kit for very little.