If anyone would be grateful enough to breakdown some products and give a short analysis on their ultimate setup for my price range, which I have leeway in that would be great! A little information on myself.... I have been bow hunting for almost 15 years now and have done a little bit of filming with friends. I am really looking into getting into self-filming and if I really get into it I will upgrade down the road. I bought a tactacam last year and loved it but I am already ready to move onto more advanced self filming. I was a Marine Scout Sniper and finished up that in 2012. During my time doing that I got a ton of experience in long range photography and running a lot of different camera products and technologies. I still have some of my equipment from being a sniper like my manfrotto tripod and mounts, which I might use for some of my ground filming. I am mainly a tree stand hunter in Northern Wisconsin so I need a camera arm, and some mount options. I briefly looked into the new fourth arrow camera arm and a little into Muddy. I want a small camera where I can get quality video and sound, but nothing too over the top. I hunt a mix of private and have a new lease where I don't have to walk far. I also hunt some large tracts of public where I walk in over a mile so I need it to be light and easily packable. Some feedback is much appreciated! Tony
First off, thank you for your service. For your camera arm, you should look at the muddy outfitter, it's their smallest arm. I'm gonna pick one of them up before season starts. As for the camcorder itself, look into the Canon Vixia series. The r500 or 600 are good camcorders for the price, however I would recommend getting a shotgun microphone for your camera as no camcorders are really that great with sound.
I may be selling two Muddy Outfitter camera arms. The older better built ones. In anyone interested in them? 1 I've been using for the last 4-5 years, the other is damn near brand new. Both are in perfect working order operationally speaking. The one I've been using has a few light scratches on it. Here is the style that I've got. 101_1986.jpg Photo by pawtner | Photobucket
Look on Canon's website for a refurbished G20. I love mine although I kinda wish I would have gone with the G30 for the better zoom. I paid around $450 for mine. I probably have roughly $800 in my setup, which includes shotgun mic, Lanc remote, camera arm and fluid head. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Tony, Check out Fourth Arrow Camera Arms! They're a new hunter-owned company and their concept is ground breaking. I've used multiple arms (Muddy, Gorilla, 3rd Arm) and Fourth Arrow is offering the lightest and most efficient options I've ever seen. They will be available in May, give them a look! www.fourtharrowcameraarms.com
I like the idea of a $30 dollar base with the fourth arrow arms makes them quite intriguing to check out
I will throw a vote towards the Canon Vixia series as well. Great cameras! I recently bought a used HF S20, primarily for the LANC port so I could run a remote. The remote cuts down your movement that much more, and for self filming especially, I strongly recommend considering that option in your set up. I picked my camera up used off Ebay for $200, bought a muddy outfitter camera arm, Canon shotgun mic, fluid head, and manfrotto remote and have roughly $600 into my set up. If your tripod has a fluid head, you should be able to use that for your camera arm as well. Good luck in whatever route you go!
Awesome! Thanks for the input.. I actually have two different manfrotto heads that I still have from the time in the military so I can cut those costs right out.
I shoot with a Canon VIXIA as well, but I will not lie....I'm leaning towards getting a better camera now and almost wish I did so from the beginning. Especially since I ended up adding more than I originally expected when putting together my rig. Something like a Canon G20 or a XA20. My rig did the trick to get started into self filming though, so it def does its job. I also picked up a DSLR on the cheap, brand new never used so couldn't pass it up. Now I swap out between both, but it is def better not having to manual focus and zoom like with the DSLR, would be even easier if the VIXIA had a LANC inport haha. Not sure if you are ruling out a DSLR completely or not though. Here is what I threw together for my set up. Hope this helps a little. Canon VIXIA HFR400 Camera and a Canon Rebel T3i DSLR Campbells Cameras Wrap Around Accessory Bracket Audio Technica PRO-24CM Shotgun Mic w/ rabbit fur windscreen Audio Technica PRO-88W Wireless Lavalier Mic Beachtek MCC-2 2-Channel Audio Adapter and Bracket (in order to run the dual mics) Lone Wolf Strong Arm Camera Arm w/ additional arm extension Manfrotto 128RC Fluid Head Manfrotto 190XPROB Tripod 32 LED Light 52MM UV Filter Step Up Ring 43MM-52MM 52MM Lens Hood DSLR: VIXIA Rig:
