Recommendation for lightweight portable stills/video camera.

[Whatty]

Morning all,

I have a business client who is looking for a decent quality rugged but lightweight camera for stills and video.
It will be used on field trips in Asia so needs to be fairly robust, compact and carried as hand luggage.

Primary use is for good stills for marketing purposes. Video should be a secondary consideration but sound & mic quality would need to be of reasonable quality.

Also needs to be relatively simple to use by non-photog types.

Budget currently unknown but assume £300-£1000.00

I'm a bit out of touch with what's on the market so would appreciate any ideas or suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

[GetCarter]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/ibn/Sony-ILCE6300-Inter...

...with whatever lens you need. (Sigma 30mm is v good - and cheap)

It has a mic jack, so you can get decent audio. (In camera mics are pretty crap on all cameras)

see>> http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/02/03/sonys-new-a6...

I have one and it takes bloody great photos.

Review: https://www.ephotozine.com/article/sony-alpha-a630...

Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 18th May 11:54

[Fordo]

What he said - cracking camera for the money. Wex photographic also tend to have a few ex-demo ones floating about in there used section too.

Capable of stunning photos and video. Sony also do a clever mic attachment that works with the hot shoe on top - gives you XLR inputs for audio.

Whatty said:

Morning all,

Primary use is for good stills for marketing purposes. Video should be a secondary consideration but sound & mic quality would need to be of reasonable quality.

.....

Also needs to be relatively simple to use by non-photog types.

Getting great shots, in video, and photography, but being a non-photg type - those two things don't really go well together. Otherwise no-one would bother to hire a photographer!

Sony stuff isn't bad on auto, but especially with video their can be a lot to learn. (making sure you don't wave the camera around at arms length, making sure you monitor audio, and have the right mic for the right setup, not having white balance on auto as it'll change throughout the shot... etc etc)


Worth pointing out to your client - a little learning will go a long way

[Whatty]

Thanks GetCarter.

Fordo said:

Worth pointing out to your client - a little learning will go a long way

Quite right. And in truth I should point out to them that they really need more than one tool for the job.

[Simpo Two]

It's not just buying the kit, it's not even about learning how it works. It's about having the creative skill to conceive and make a video production.