Looking for a camera for filming gigs

gdgross

gdgross

Experienced
we're a techy bunch here, so thought it might be a good place to ask. My band and acoustic duo do a lot of shows without sound support or photographers. We're pretty self contained, and we normally provide our own PA for events. I'm usually the one setting everything up, so, including the fact that I'm also performing, I don't have a lot of bandwidth left for setting up and worrying about more equipment.

I'd like to have a camera or phone I can set up on a tripod or off to the side somewhere at the beginning of a gig, and just press record and film the whole thing. Quality isn't as important as catching any potential gem moments that happen during the show, although better quality certainly won't hurt haha. The intent is just to catch the good stuff for social media fodder.

My phone never has enough space to do this.

My fancy sony alpha camera records for only 15 minutes before it stops, though it always looks great and shoots well in low light.

I'd be able to go stop and restart the recording in between sets, so to be on the safe side of catching everything, I'd like maybe an hour and a half or two hours of recording time.

I do have an old iPhone 6 i could use for this, i suppose? It's wiped so there ought to be enough space. Any other thoughts on this? I'm sure i must not be the only one in this boat!

Thanks guys, happy Friday, I'm off to my acoustic show with no solution to this question yet haha, prompting this post!
 
My first choice would be a Go-Pro.

You can power it from USB, either a battery pack or a charger, while it's filming so the memory card limits how much you can capture.

You can control it via voice commands or connect via Bluetooth and control it from your phone, so starting and stopping it remotely is easy. And, there's a mode that will record a burst automatically if someone yells "Oh, SH*T!". You could even give it an audio feed from your FOH.

They're small, can use a tiny tripod and are inconspicuous, and the newer ones have great video and still photo capability, and they're not stupid expensive and can take punishment.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
My first choice would be a Go-Pro.

You can power it from USB, either a battery pack or a charger, while it's filming so the memory card limits how much you can capture.

You can control it via voice commands or connect via Bluetooth and control it from your phone, so starting and stopping it remotely is easy. And, there's a mode that will record a burst automatically if someone yells "Oh, SH*T!". You could even give it an audio feed from your FOH.

They're small, can use a tiny tripod and are inconspicuous, and the newer ones have great video and still photo capability, and they're not stupid expensive and can take punishment.
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Which model of GoPro would you recommend? There are several
 
So, not that I'm a camera pro or anything if it were me I would leverage a older laptop with spare disk space, then attach a Logitech USB HD camera, yes a bit cumbersome for starting/stopping the recordings, etc but its a cost effective alternative to a new GoPro and the capture will go to disk on the laptop then you can retrieve it and edit it later. Outside of that a used iPhone for sure, and or if you want exceptional quality then a new iPhone 14, duh, right? but there are other options like here or just pay one of your buddies that has an iPhone 14 to film it and pay the bar tab..
 
DaveO said:
So, not that I'm a camera pro or anything if it were me I would leverage a older laptop with spare disk space, then attach a Logitech USB HD camera, yes a bit cumbersome for starting/stopping the recordings, etc but its a cost effective alternative to a new GoPro and the capture will go to disk on the laptop then you can retrieve it and edit it later. Outside of that a used iPhone for sure, and or if you want exceptional quality then a new iPhone 14, duh, right? but there are other options like here or just pay one of your buddies that has an iPhone 14 to film it and pay the bar tab..
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I think a brand new GoPro cost way less than an iPhone 14……I’d go GoPro all the way.
 
rushfan said:
Which model of GoPro would you recommend? There are several
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I wouldn’t buy a new one. I think any model from 7-10 would be plenty good. The newer models have better low light sensitivity and improved vibration resistance, which might help avoid the low notes shaking the camera.

Make sure you put the camera and tripod somewhere that doesn’t shake, or bounce around, otherwise it could move the camera, to the point it falls down. That’d be “no bueno”. I like the Joby GorillaPod tripods because the flexible legs can be wrapped around a pipe or splayed for a more solid support; I have several different sizes and at least one is in my bag when I travel. They’re well made and reasonably priced.
 
Thanks for the suggestions all!

I like the gopro idea, and that little zoom idea, just pop a new SD card in for each show and fuggetaboutit. An older laptop with extra equipment is probably too much for me though, there's barely enough bandwidth left to remember to set up a single camera.

Like those little gorilla tripods too! I have a clamp on thingie that can get on a mic stand or something else similarly sized, but those seem even more versatile.
 
gdgross said:
Like those little gorilla tripods too! I have a clamp on thingie that can get on a mic stand or something else similarly sized, but those seem even more versatile.
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They're very versatile. I have their little tripod with super magnets in the feet, so it's possible to stick it to anything that's magnetic, and they'll hold well. That's mostly useful when I want to get a quick shot and there's no table or big rock, but there is a street sign or light I can stick it to.

The jointed legs on the tripods are great, but the smallest one can get wobbly if the camera's weight is getting close to the tripod's limit, so be sure to secure the legs around something, or splay them out for stability, or get the next bigger size because it'll weigh a little bit more by itself and be more stable. When I used to shoot landscapes we'd use sandbags to weigh down the tripod and make it rock solid.
 
deathbyguitar said:
I was referring to the Sony Alpha camera
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OP mentioned possibly using a phone cam. Every phone I've had has had limitations on how long it will record, even with a GINORMOUS SD card (400G), so the time limit seems a software 'feature' rather than a storage limitation, which means a phone cam is likely not a great solution....
 
deathbyguitar said:
Does it do that because of overheating or is is a limitation of the camera settings or storage capacity?
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Not a storage limit, that's just the size of your SD card. It's just built into the camera for whatever reason. perhaps to keep the video files from getting too big? I'm not sure tbh.
 
gdgross said:
Not a storage limit, that's just the size of your SD card. It's just built into the camera for whatever reason. perhaps to keep the video files from getting too big? I'm not sure tbh.
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From what I'm seeing online, the camera actually has a time limit of around 30 minutes or 2 GBs for files, whichever comes first. Im willing to bet if you reduced the quality of the video (for example, using 1080p instead of 4k) it would get closer to the 30 minute limit. 1080 on a Sony camera will always look better than 4K on even the nicest phone. There are also some videos/articles I'm seeing about removing the 30 minute limit.
 
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