I’ve been traveling a lot lately, attending Symantec Vision, the IBM Storage Executive Summit, Interop, and EMC World just in the last two weeks! One of the things that I love about attending shows like this, in addition to meeting so many great people, is recording and sharing videos of the experience. Some of my friends asked about the equipment I use for mobile video recording, so I thought I might take a few moments and write it up.
As I wrote, this got longer and longer. So I’ve split it up into a series of posts:
- Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camcorder Review
- Azden SMX-10 Stereo Shotgun and Generic OLM-10 Lavalier Microphone Review
- Zoom H1 “Handy Recorder”: Hands-On Review
- Sony NEX-5 Camera Review
Recent Examples
Here are some example videos made with the equipment described above.
Symantec Donating to Teacher Exchange
A bit yellow (there’s no white balance on the Zi8) but this was a very dim and noisy location with a hastily-recruited camera-woman (thanks, Gina!). If I hadn’t had a good mic the recording would have been ruined by the environment, but everything worked out fine in the end.
Drobo S Unboxing
This was shot with the Zi8 on a tripod and the lav mic clipped to my shirt. It was a quiet environment, and the long lav wire allowed me to move around freely.
Introducing Ciphertex at Interop
Another show-floor video where I used the Zi8 and Azden mic handheld. It was a bright but very noisy location with a moving subject – a real challenge for a handheld mic!
Meeting Thomas Jones at EMC World
Another recruited cameraman for a hand-held shot with the Zi8 and Azden mic. Thomas asked about the mic, prompting me to write all of this!
Stephen’s Stance
Good equipment can make the difference between an amateurish embarrassment and professional production when it comes to video recording. The combination of the Zi8 and my pair of microphones collect good enough source material to keep me in the latter category. Combined with the capabilities of Apple’s iMovie software, I can produce respectable videos anywhere I happen to find myself.
I use http://www.bluemic.com/snowflake/ as my microphone. It works extremely well. The Snowball is used by lots of professional podcasters (and such). Snowflake is same quality but easier to transport.
I have a Blue Snowball at home (love it!) and a 1.0 Eyeball I use occasionally. They’re great for podcasts and such, not so much on the go!
Love your work Stephen, a man after my own heart, a good mix of storage nerd with AV nerd is eclectic but useful.
Might have to look into the NEX to replace my aging HVR-A1, but having just bought the 5d MKII, I think the finance minister will have a few points of disagreement..