Most consumer cameras you can buy today are going to be just fine for citizen journalism. But here are a couple of things to look for (or avoid).
1) Make sure the camera has a separate microphone jack. Otherwise you're stuck using the one mounted on the camera. These built-in mics are better than they used to be, but they still don't work real well for interviews unless the subject is close to the camera.
2) If you're giving a choice between DV and HDV and all things else are equal, take the HDV. It is the format of the future.
3) Avoid the disc based cameras, at least for now. They're not cross platform and it's not easy to play the discs in a home DVD player.
4) I came across a camera today that did NOT have a headphone jack (or at least I couldn't find it). Any camera you buy MUST have a headphone jack, or you can't properly monitor the audio (see the post on mic and line level audio and you'll understand why).
TimeScape Forums » Field Production
What to look for in a camera
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Posted 3 years ago #
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