If this has been covered in my absence, please ignore and/or point me in the proper direction.
My eldest boys (11 & 9) are interested in Filming our trains, and their LEGOs (stop-motion).
My kids are not very computer savvy (by design) but their imaginations are Huge. I’d like to connect them with a Camera and PC-software that is New-user friendly this Christmas.
What units have you determined to be Good Starter Cameras and KISS software?
The Go-Pro is nice because it is very small and comes with a tough waterproof case. The Gear-Pro is a less expensive knock off of the Go-Pro, but I have one of their 1080P units from Woot for ~$175 and it also has a waterproof case good to 170 feet.
Be forewarned, these both have “fish-eye lenses” and I don’t know of an external lens to correct the side aberations.
Both of these can just use the Windows software for editing and the computer just sees them as an external drive.
Cale,
Small camcorders with simple modes are getting less expensive every day.
Two that I would consider
and
For super easy editing
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-live/movie-maker
part of Windows Essentials but also included from Win XP forward. Your mileage may differ.
While not as small as a GoPro, a conventional camcorder has easier controls and is small enough that mounting it on a LS flatcar is no problem.
Hi Cale.
I have a GoPro Hero + Black and it is Awesome but pricey, maybe a bit less now that the hero4 is out btu still Alot. The black is WIFI capable. It has several capture modes and I had to settle on the middle one since out of 3 desktops and 2 lap tops only one computer had the speed/memory to handle it. I think it is a 1080 like Todd mentioned and it is great. The top capture setting must be reserved for networks making reality shows. The fish eye can be minimised on mine.
If you do get a GoPro make sure you have a computer up to the task of editing and playing back footage. I use Windows Movie Maker to edit.
There are other less expensive options out there that are also rugged and compact like the Coleman camera that I considered before the gopro.
I don’t know of any non film camera that can do stop action properly. I wish there was one because it would be fun to do a stop action movie.
Here is a link to my latest movie using the Gopro. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Eae4nCp6VQ
Todd , the camera looks like it’s up to the job , very nice . It also does justice to your rather nice looking layout .
Mike
the GoPro Black is at the front of the local Costco store…OUCH! I’d love to ‘go there’ but it’s over budget right now.
Thanks for the recommendations-keep 'em coming!
Cale Nelson said:
the GoPro Black is at the front of the local Costco store…OUCH! I’d love to ‘go there’ but it’s over budget right now.
Thanks for the recommendations-keep 'em coming!
One of the Big Boxes in town (won’t do you any good) is flogging the GoPro (early version) for Can$ 149.99.
If you shop there, WALMART USA has a GoPro for US$129. http://www.walmart.com/ip/GoPro-CHDHA-301/39969672
The majority of my video is shot on a JVC GC-FM1VUS that I got in 2010. You can find refurbished ones online for less than $50.00. Its HD and saves to a small SDHC/SD memory card. It is fixed focal length, so if you use the zoom function it is digital, which means you lose resolution as you are basically just cropping the HD image to fill the screen. I generally don’t use zoom in my videos. If I do, I use my Canon 70D at the other end of the spectrum cost wise. I also have a JVC Adixxion gc-xa1which is JVC’s answer to the Go-Pro. Its about a $100.00 less than the Go-Pro and also Quad proof (5m waterproof/2m shockproof/dust-proof/freeze-proof). It has a wider field of view than the GC-FM1 but not as much as the Go-Pro so you don’t get as much of the spherical aberration towards the outer limits of the field of view. It also has built in time-lapse which I like to play with once in a while. Both of these JVC’s are small and light weight. That is an advantage for tight spots, but you will want to use some sort of mini-tripod or suction cup tripod mount as a base to set the thing down when capturing video to avoid a shaky image. That is my main mode of operation since they are so susceptible to shake because they’re small. You can see the results of these cameras at my Youtube channel. www.youtube.com/livstm
As for software, well I’m a MAC guy, so I just use iMovie. Its simple and has a lot of capability for the average home movies. You will need an external hard drive for storage. Since 2010 when I went all digital I have amassed 4TB of video. That’s going to an average of one steamup a month and having captured enough video to make a 6-10 minute highlight clip. About 75% of the raw video I shoot ends up on the cutting room floor. Good luck and happy shooting.
Scott
Until I got my smart phone a couple of months ago, I used a Kodak Easy Share digital camera. I really liked that camera. Took it on two trips to Europe. Takes excellent photos and videos.
Now I use my smart phone. It’s much simpler to download videos onto the computer as it goes via iCloud.
I got a Canon Vixia HR300, which is similar to the Panasonic unit HJ posted above. Probably anything of that genre will work well. I’ve used it to shoot stuff for work, and while it’s not quite as polished as the “big cameras” we use when I look at it in the edit bay, by the time it gets to your living room through all the compression of the cable or satellite guys, you’re not going to be able to tell. It’s small enough to fit on a flat car or elsewhere for good “on-board” stuff, and it’s got a good focal range so you can get some wide-angle shots and some good telephoto stuff as well.
I’ve also used the HD video setting on my Nikon point-and-shoot, my sister-in-law’s Canon 60D, my iPhone, and a GoPro. I don’t recommend the latter two for anything other than on-board type stuff. They’re not really intended to be full-featured video cameras.
In terms of video editing software, iMove or Windows Movie Maker are both free, and probably ample for your kids’ projects.
Later,
K
I got one of those keyfob cameras. Works pretty good . Got it on ebay for about $15, uses a small card, so easy to load into your computer. I just stuck it on top with some yellow tack stuff or tape. Have not used it in a while. Used to be quite a bit written up on line a year or two ago. This is the one I got, read the reviews to get good instructions.
http://www.amazon.com/808-Car-Chain-Camera-Recorder/dp/B00849KQD0
Here’s some a buddy gave me:
There are 4 buttons, only 2 do anything. Of these two that work there’s the one closest to the edge, and the one more inward, towards center.
I press the inward button to turn it on. This will make the light turn on and stay on.
To record video I hold the edge button for a few seconds. 50% of the time it will blink three times and then go out. 50% of the time it stays lit during the few seconds, then when I let go, it blinks three times and then goes out. I don’t know what causes either to happen, I’m just learning to live with that. If it doesn’t blink 3 times and go out, then you took a JPEG picture instead of starting video. Try it again.
The light should be off - following 3 blinks - to be in video mode. It is a “spy” camera and if you were recording someone secretly you wouldn’t want some obvious light shining at them. “Hey, why is your key chain lit up like that?”
Here’s one thing I do that I think is different from the instructions. To stop recording video I press and hold the power button (the inward one). This will bring the light back on. I’m noticing the light stays on for a different amount of time, depending on how long I recorded. I suspect this is an activity light showing that it is writing to the memory. By pressing this button it turns the camera off, so to start recording again I have to start from scratch (back on, 3 blinks, etc).
I haven noticed that I get perhaps 30 minutes of record time on a full charge of the battery. I prefer to make multiple 5 minute recordings than try to push my luck. If you are recording and run out of power it will have a file on the memory card, but I can’t get it to be read by any program. I suspect it doesn’t get whatever file header/index is needed written out properly as it is like a temp file only.
same Key fob Jerry used Manfred
All I use is a cool pix point and shot camera. The important thing to remember is get a high pixel. I think mine is 8. HD is good to have if you want to view on a large screen. You really don’t have to go crazy. Just take as many short clip videos as you can. Then use a movie maker program to edit the clips. Ill take 50 video clips and end up using a dozen or so.
I use a cheap (under $75) hand held HD camera that I resurrected from the trash at work. I built a mount for it to sit in a wood hopper car and added a few LEDs for night filming…
I had an old Flip video HD camera, and have also used my Galaxy S2 phone for video. The flip is long discontinued and can be had on ebay for well under $50.
This works nice with a small gorilla tripod that is very flexible and can be shaped to fit in a gondola.
I use Microsoft Movie Maker, it’s free and very easy to use. Here is a ride on my Mt. Meterbox and Bare Sands RR. I took three separate trips around with the camera facing front, 45 degrees, and 90 degrees and edited them together.
