Camera SLR Lenses

How To Make Videos: Camera, Lighting and Microphone In the first installment of How To Make Videos I take a look at the equipment you need including camera, lighting and microphone. A good camera is essential for video making however many people would be surprised that you can get good quality video with cheaper cameras. Smartphones can work well here (for example the iPhone 4) as do ordinary point and shoot cameras and cheap camcorders. Moving on you can use an ordinary camcorder, superzoom or even a professional DSLR for your video but you should look for at least 720p video recording. Lighting is also extremely important when making videos. It can make an average video look much better and more impressive. Just like with a camera you don't necessarily need to go and buy an expensive lighting kit but it will help the quality of your videos if you turn on all the lights you can and bring in extra lamps for optimal lighting. Audio is one of the most important parts of making a video. When starting out it's often best to just use the microphone built-in to your camera, camcorder or phone. For the best audio quality though you will need a better microphone and there are several ways you can go. If your camera or camcorder has an external microphone input you can use a vastly better external mic connected to your camera such as a RØDE VideoMic, an external microphone like the Zoom H1 or a USB microphone connected to your computer like an Audio-Technica AT2020.

Nikon D3200: Full time auto focus performance and noise 18-55mm at 18mm no mic - 1:12 18-55mm at 55mm no mic - 1:56 18-55mm at 18mm with ME-1 mic - 2:40 18-55mm at 55mm with ME-1 mic - 3:24 18-200mm at 18mm no mic - 4:08 18-200mm at 200mm no mic - 4:52 18-200mm at 18mm with ME-1 mic - 5:37 18-200mm at 200mm with ME-1 mic - 6:21 Those eight video samples recorded with the Nikon D3200 test it's ability to maintain focus in the full time auto focus mode and show not only the noise/sound produced by the lens while the camera does this, but it also shows the difference in noise generated by the 18-55mm lens and it's external focus AF-S system and the 18-200mm lens and it's internal focus (IF) AF-S system. I also test the ME-1 Stereo Microphone and find out how much less noise from focusing is picked up while using this microphone attached to the camera. I also show how to activate and disable the full time auto focus function and I show how to pick your favorite focus option whether it be AF-S Single Servo AF, AF-F Continuous Full Time Servo AF, or MF Manual Focus. The Vibration Reduction (VR) function of the lenses is active during this entire video. It is a fantastic function and works quite well to stabilize the image. My dog is a yellow lab and she will be 12 years old this September (she was born in September, 2000) Lenses: Nikkor 18-55m AF-S VR 3.5-5.6G Lens Nikkor 18-200mm AF-S VR II 3.5-5.6G ED Lens Mic used: Nikon ME-1 Stereo Microphone 3.5mm Jack This video was ...