Due to the high volume of events, projects and requests, many departments at the Catholic University of America opt to purchase a consumer-grade camera in order to meet the workflow of those events. Here are some recommendations regarding purchasing and operating a consumer camera:
The further the subject is from the microphone the worse the sound quality will be. In physics, this is known as the inverse square law.
HD does not always mean high quality but it does mean large file sizes and higher processing time. Even if you have a high definition camera, consider shooting in SD. Many computers will have issues handling high definition video in post processing.
A tripod is a cheap addition to making your video look professional and keeping the subject in frame. The shaky-documentary effect seen in reality television shows is created with what is essentially a very expensive tripod.
The camera should have an image stabilizer included in order to keep the image smooth and avoid a “Jell-O effect” even when the camera secured to a tripod.
A high optical zoom is preferred to a digital zoom. Digital zoom should be avoided due to degradation of image quality.
Tape cameras digitize in real time so purchasing a hard drive camera (or a camera that records to SD cards) is preferred.
The camera should record directly to MOV, MP4 or M4V file types. Not to a brand specific file type.
