Camera & audio setup for YouTube series

[Blade of Grass]

Oh shit sorry, what am I on about. Probably a sign that I need more sleep. I didn't mean depth of field, I meant depth compression - the magnification distance between foreground and background. Also, I never said they make the best, I said the best at each price point, which is kind of inarguable.

I agree 

[Joseph]

Just run the one lav to the zoom and use the shotgun (mounted on camera) as backup. If it's multiple guests then you would used the zoom placed centrally and the shotgun on-camera. Lav mics have incredibly tight polar patterns so they're good for noisy locs, however if the situation sounds artificially quiet due to this you'll have the shotgun track to add a slight ambience to the room after. It's always a good idea to record a couple of minutes of loopable ambient sound before conducting the interview too, in case you buff up settings (shit happens) and you need to disguise some noise or pops in post.

The H2N looks great. I've never personally used it so I can't say anything more about it than that. The Sony 50 f1.4 lens you've posted is an excellent lens. I only had a week with it, but I can tell you it out performs similarly priced offerings from Canon and Nikon, and I'm actually surprised to see it so cheap. I remember it being much more expensive. Go for it. I'm thinking of getting it for myself now. It's probably a good idea to get a zoom bundled with the camera. Like the prime, Sony's kit lenses are vastly better than offerings from other vendors so the 18-55 kit zoom will be fairly robust, however a fast prime is vastly better suited to interview situations where there may be low light. 

If the a58 is like any other of Sony's SLT's it will record 30 minutes @ 1080p to one file then immediately start another, so really your only limit is the capacity of your memory card. Also, keep in mind that these entry level dSLRs are using APS-C sized sensors, so you have a 1.5x crop factor (except if it's a Canon APS-C, which use smaller sensors, so it's more like 1.6x). 50mm lenses are considered the closest image aesthetic to the human eye in terms of depth compression, however the crop factor means the 50mm prime will be the equivalent of a 75mm on FX, and likewise the kit zoom will be a 27-82.5mm. The ~60-150mm focal lengths are around about what most photographers use for portrait photography, so that's why a 50mm is a better choice for your interviews than, say a 35 (which gives you a nearly 50mm equivalent on DX).

 

Edit: removed retarded product of tiredness. Thanks blade of grass

 

Thanks very much for the responses so far :-)

 

I don't think I explained the format right. Here's an awful sketch to demonstrate. Will having just one camera be okay for this if the 2 people (interviewr and interviewee) are angled right? As I notice interviews like this usually have 3 cameras. If it would look bad is there a different view you would suggest?

Because it is this format should there not be a lav for each person with shotgun as backup?

I was going to get the 18-55mm kit - thought it would be a good idea to have.

[CaptainSi]

Oh, this is significantly different to what I had in mind. Firstly you'll need a wider lens. Not too wide where perspective distortion will make faces look unnatural, so I think a 50mm equivalent would be best. Something like Sony's 35 f1.8. Audio is much more complicated. If you use the Zoom H2 (placed on the table, for example) you'll have to record in mono and split the audio into stereo in post so the positional switching isn't annoying for viewers. The best solution however, would be to use two lav mics running into two zooms, however this obviously doubles the logistics of the situation. Using two mics can be complicated if settings like the gain, or the rooms ambience is even slightly off in each location when you're pairing the two channels in post, but it's just a matter of trial and error, you'll eventually learn how to do it properly. Using windscreens on the lav mics is a good way to mitigate this issue.

[Joseph]

Oh, this is significantly different to what I had in mind. Firstly you'll need a wider lens. Not too wide where perspective distortion will make faces look unnatural, so I think a 50mm equivalent would be best. Something like Sony's 35 f1.8. Audio is much more complicated. If you use the Zoom H2 (placed on the table, for example) you'll have to record in mono and split the audio into stereo in post so the positional switching isn't annoying for viewers. The best solution however, would be to use two lav mics running into two zooms, however this obviously doubles the logistics of the situation. Using two mics can be complicated if settings like the gain, or the rooms ambience is even slightly off in each location when you're pairing the two channels in post, but it's just a matter of trial and error, you'll eventually learn how to do it properly. Using windscreens on the lav mics is a good way to mitigate this issue.

 

 

Is this the lens you were thinking about? It seem's quite expensive ?

 

I looked into the audio a bit more. What about the H4N which can record two audio sources?

 

It's seems I've run over my budget a bit but would be willing to if you think this setup would work well? Or if there's anything I've left out.

 

Cheers again

[Lil Chillbil]

Is this the lens you were thinking about? It seem's quite expensive ?

 

 

 

welcome to the world of photography, enjoy your stay most of us have a 3rd mortgage lol  

[CaptainSi]

Is this the lens you were thinking about? It seem's quite expensive ?

 

I looked into the audio a bit more. What about the H4N which can record two audio sources?

 

It's seems I've run over my budget a bit but would be willing to if you think this setup would work well? Or if there's anything I've left out.

 

Cheers again

Nah, that's an E mount variant. You're after the SAL35F18. It's an A mount lens, which is significantly cheaper. 

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Alpha-SAL35F18-A-mount-Angle/dp/B0042GHI8U

H4n is a good idea but I'd personally prefer two h1's. It's cheaper and more versatile to have two separate units, but it's up to you, each will do the job.

[CaptainSi]

Oh, and don't forget memory cards and batteries. Seems kind of obvious but many a folk forget to budget them in. You will need class 10 cards for these level cameras.

[Joseph]

Cool beans, thanks for the input. I have a shopping list made up, what do you think?

 

Will those two XLR adapters work with the H4n and 2 lapels?

[CaptainSi]

The h4n has combo xlr/3.5mm jacks so you shouldn't need any adapters at all. Looks good otherwise

[Joseph]

The h4n has combo xlr/3.5mm jacks so you shouldn't need any adapters at all. Looks good otherwise

 

Thanks again, hopefully ordering in the next few days, will update when everything arrives.

 

But just on the combo thing, it seems for the 3.5mm jack you have to plug it in the back and it just has one port which is just mono? Does it matter if recording in mono or stereo? And if I do need the adapter is this the right one?

[CaptainSi]

Thanks again, hopefully ordering in the next few days, will update when everything arrives.

 

But just on the combo thing, it seems for the 3.5mm jack you have to plug it in the back and it just has one port which is just mono? Does it matter if recording in mono or stereo? And if I do need the adapter is this the right one?

The AT lav mic spits out dual channel mono (an identical mono track split onto two channels) which is ideal for interviews, so it shouldn't need any adapters. I still strongly recommend two H1s over the H4 as plugging two channels into a single recorder means you won't be able to adjust volumes of each interviewee, if, say, the lav mics arent identical distances from each interviewee's mouth, or one is speaking louder than another. Also means the interviewee's won't be tethered together. I've never used the H4 but if it only records one channel, splitting them in post really isn't an issue, so there is no need for adapters.

[Joseph]

The AT lav mic spits out dual channel mono (an identical mono track split onto two channels) which is ideal for interviews, so it shouldn't need any adapters. I still strongly recommend two H1s over the H4 as plugging two channels into a single recorder means you won't be able to adjust volumes of each interviewee, if, say, the lav mics arent identical distances from each interviewee's mouth, or one is speaking louder than another. Also means the interviewee's won't be tethered together. I've never used the H4 but if it only records one channel, splitting them in post really isn't an issue, so there is no need for adapters.

 

 

Hmmm okay fair point, think I'll go with the two H1s then And would I do all the syncing up in post editing in a tool like sony vegas?

 

Oh and as an aside, what would you recommend as a reasonable flash for using it as normal camera? Was looking at this

[CaptainSi]

Yeap, Sony Vegas will work absolutely fine for track synch. a58 uses Sony's new MIF hotshoe, which is basically a standard hotshoe (so it will fit any standard mount accessories) with the addition of Sony's own proprietary connector to interface with Sony products and give extra control options. I've heard good things about Yongnuo, especially given the price points, though the only flash of theirs that I've used is the 460II, which was a no frills, great little flash, however is completely manual. I'd personally just save up and invest in one of Sony's own flashes as you'll get a much better lifetime out of them, and issues like overheating, recycle times, synch and wireless support will be much better controlled on Sony products. Also, the added benefit of some exceptionally useful and unique Sony stuff like quick shift bounce, water sealing and on board video lighting that comes with their flashes makes the investment much more worthwhile. 

When you can afford it, I recommend Sony's HVL43M or their new HVL43AM (only difference I know of is the inclusion of a video light on the AM). If you have a dig about you can find them for ~$200, which isn't really that much for the performance and feature set they offer. If you're still not sold on Sony flashes, the only third party flashes I could whole heartingly recommend would be Metz products. They have some flashes and flash grips that hit around the price point of the Yongnuo flash you were looking at, and if anything can be said about them, they are electrically and mechanically robust.