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video camerasDate: August 3, 2009
Have perused through ChoralNet discussions, but still haven't found solid help. Thought I'd put out another plea. We're looking for a video camera to record conducting classes (individual students) and then also to record concerts, etc. Our VHS camera finally died.... It would be great to have a digital camera that could directly transfer to a laptop computer where a student's session could be saved to their individual flash drives. Is this kind of technology available? Are built-in mics on these digital cameras good nowadays or do we look for one that has the capability to plug in an external mic? Do you have any suggestions? I have become aware of the "flip camera", see http://www.amazon.com/Flip-Video-Ultra-Camcorder-60-Minutes/dp/B001ROCH4A/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1249333392&sr=8-5 but am not sure about audio quality (although I'm sure it's good enough for a conducting class). Thanks for your time and help!! Brent
Tom Tropp on August 3, 2009 2:37pm
Brent, we use a hard drive-based camcorder (JVC) for our conducting classes at Northwestern, and it works great, as students can transfer their portions to their own hard drives, just as you've mentioned.
The only drawback is that it doesn't work all that well for immediate playback, as each "take" is saved as an individual file, and playing back any of those files necessitates starting from the beginning.
Most of the hard drive cameras on the market now also have slots for flash or SD drives, so that is a great option as well.
For the purpose of recording a conducting class, or even a concert, the internal microphones in the cameras are just fine nowadays.
on August 4, 2009 5:51am
Flip now has a new version. Stereo mics built in, HD. 120 minutes recording time. You can plug it directly into an HDTV with HDMI cable. All the software you need is resident on the camera, so you can plug it into just about any machine you have available to email the video, to send it to YouTube, etc. No need to install anything and then come back to that machine. I just got one several days ago and haven't had an opportnunity to really put it through its paces, so I can't yet give it any kind of authoritative review, but the price was rtight (under $180 at Amazon ... be sure to click to Amazon from their link at choralnet.org. That helps pay the bills!) I've played around with it a little and will soon have a better idea of its usefullness.
Best,
Dean
on August 4, 2009 11:35am
Brent -
I'm with Dean ... get a Flip and a good tripod. I've had one for almost 2 years (non-HD, 60min version), and have taken videos of choral music in all kinds of settings both here and overseas. It's quick, light, easy to use, very VERY easy to download from, and has surprisingly decent audio. Especially for the situation you describe. I used it to tape all of my student's presentations last spring. I 'flip' open the USB tab on the side of the camera, attach it to my MacBook laptop and download the files (QuickTime for me). Then the files can be easily burned to a cd, uploaded to a internet site for students to download, or sent to a temporary email site for large attachments (YouSendIt.com).
My $ony video camera is getting a nice rest these days!
Good luck and happy videoing -
Marian Dolan, DMA
Naples, FL
on August 6, 2009 1:20pm
I've never used a Flip, but I have made use of Kodak's Zi6 (with HD) for my conducting class. A nice feature is that for as small as it is, it has a viewing screen big enough to play for a student right away without having to wait for an upload. It has a built-in USB that makes the transfers quick and easy, and the playback and sound quality is quite good once it has been uploaded to a computer. Kodak gave owners a free upgrade so that the camera now can operate with a 32G video card, VERY handy if you don't want to risk running out of disk space. Downside: runs entirely on rechargeable AA batteries, no plug-in source available.
Ben Locke
Kenyon College
Gambier, OH
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