I am often asked what sort of camera is best to shoot wildlife – as if it needs to be significantly different from your average camcorder – but of course any camera will do to make a start. One of my cameras that gets a lot of use is a bottom-of-the-range, single CCD chip, miniDV camcorder. The reason it gets a lot of use is that it is small, lightweight and cheap – so it goes everywhere with me – in the car, in a rucksack, on a plane etc. Therefore it is always available when the unexpected happens (and with wildlife it often is unexpected) such as a flock of geese passing overhead, coming across a deer in a field and so on. As it is a relatively cheap camcorder I am less concerned about it being stolen or damaged, yet I still get good DV (digital video) quality.
If you already have a camcorder – then that’s the one to use! You can still make films with analogue camcorders with formats such as 8 mm, Hi8, VHS and S-VHS although the picture quality won’t be as good as modern digital camcorders. If you are looking to upgrade, or to buy your first camcorder with wildlife filming in mind, then there are a few considerations to explore. The first is what your intention is. If it is just to record wildlife for your own interest and to show friends, then any format is fine. If you wish to make mini-movies to go on the Internet or on CD-ROM/DVD then you will be looking at DV ideally. If you wish to shoot higher-quality footage for possible use on television, or to attract the interest of a production company/broadcaster, then you want to aim for at least three CCD chip DV or DVCAM or higher. Before we get too far let’s explore a few of these acronyms: • DV stands for Digital Video (recording digits rather than a continuously changing signal with older analogue video camcorders). DV covers all digital video cameras. • MiniDV refers to the small digital video tape cassettes used in miniDV camcorders – by far the most popular format currently. • CCD stands for Charge-Coupled Device and is the chip used to capture picture information. Budget camcorders have just one chip, but more expensive three chip cameras split the colours into red, green and blue with a chip for each and have a higher quality picture as a result. • DVCAM is a system that records on to tapes running at a slightly higher speed than normal DV (a 60 minute miniDV tape will run through in 40 minutes). This results in a slightly higher picture quality, although many people are hard pressed to notice the difference.
Your budget may well be the deciding factor (isn’t it always?). If you can’t spend more than a few hundred pounds then you will probably be aiming at a single-chip DV camcorder – there are many available now, some basic ones for little more than £200 new (see www.amazon.co.uk or Argos for great prices, or eBay as mentioned). The vast majority currently record on to miniDV tapes, but there are some that record on to other formats such as DVD, Digital-8, HDD (direct on to hard disc drive – file-based recording), DVCAM and HDV (High Definition Video). If you can afford more than a few hundred pounds then you can start looking at three-chip camcorders, and if you can approach £2,500 then consider the Canon XL2. I mention this one by name because the Canon XL series of camcorders has been favourites with wildlife film-makers the world over (amateur, semi-pro and some professionals). It superseded the Canon XL1s which is a very popular camera and can now be obtained second-hand at great prices (prices are coming down all the time so those quoted are just a guide at the time of publication).
At this point I should point out that many of the wildlife films you see on television have been shot with either Super 16mm film, or a high quality video format such as Digital Betacam (Digibeta) or High Definition (HD). But these are expensive formats beyond the reach of many amateurs and (some) independents. Footage is key however (i.e. the importance of the subject you have filmed) and increasingly formats such as miniDV (especially three-chip quality) are being used in television programmes. The Canon XL cameras have a lot going for the wildlife specialist – above all the ability to change lenses, and with the right adaptor you can use the same inexpensive lenses as your SLR stills camera uses. • Super 16mm film was the preferred format for wildlife films for television for many years. The cameras were small enough to carry through the jungle (though by no means lightweight) and the picture quality was superb with rich, smooth colouration. The ‘Super’ refers to the increased width of the recorded picture – filming in widescreen (16:9 screen ratio (length:height) as opposed to normal 4:3). One major disadvantage of using photographic film, however, was being unable to see your results in the field – you could waste months deep in the jungle filming on fogged film stock for example.
These days the majority of films for television are shot in widescreen (‘future-proofing’ your footage as the idea is that in the future we all have widescreen TVs – films made now in the old 4:3 ratio are less likely to be broadcast in the future) so that may be a consideration when choosing your camera. It is also worth mentioning that broadcasters will increasingly consider only films shot in High Definition (future-proofing again) so if you are aiming to make films for television you may decide to invest in an HD capable camera. HD prices have come down rapidly recently and one option to consider is the Canon XLH1 for around £5,000 which again has interchangeable lenses. There are also HD camcorders from other manufacturers such as Sony (Z1 or FX1 for example) and JVC (GR-HD1), many more, some significantly cheaper, are following. HD cameras recording on miniDV tapes are often called HDV camcorders.
• High Definition (now don’t worry if this bit gets too technical) relates to the number of pixels (the many tiny dots that make up the representation of a picture on the screen); the higher the number of pixels, the sharper the picture. Standard Definition (SD – most TVs in current use) provides 625 lines per frame (actually 576 visible lines, the rest being used for other information such as sync data and captioning) with the PAL system (used in the UK and many other countries) or 525 lines per frame (480 visible lines) with the NTSC system used in the USA and parts of South America (there are other standards as you’ll see in the summary on the next page). High definition however provides increased resolutions of either 1080 or 720 lines per frame. To appreciate this improved picture quality, though, the film must not only have been shot on an HD camera, but have been edited on an HD system, broadcast in HD and viewed on an HDTV (High Definition Television). Japan is way ahead in this respect, with the US catching up and the UK and other countries snapping at their heels. Before too long all programmes will be broadcast in HD and to get the full benefit many of us will be buying new widescreen HD TVs. Note that when you buy a camcorder (or pre-recorded video tape) it will conform to one of these standards. So a PAL camcorder will not work with NTSC equipment such as your TV for example. Be especially careful when buying equipment mail-order via the Internet that it conforms to the appropriate standard for your region. When you are filming wildlife you are often up-close and personal (a butterfly on a flower, snails on your cabbages, busy ants etc) and this is where any DV camcorder is superb – most will allow you to fill the frame with something the size of a snail – keep the lighting bright and it will record with good colour and focus. The problem comes with the long-distance shots (birds on a cliff-top, fox-cubs playing in a field etc). Camcorders are often advertised with amazing zooms such as 440x – but this only refers to the digital magnification. Digital zooms will pixelate badly (the picture appears as tiny squares) so look out for a camcorder with a good optical zoom – 20x or more. Also make sure you set up your camera (in the menu) so that the digital zoom is not used – keep it optical!
Another important factor when choosing your camera is the ability to connect an external microphone and a pair of headphones. Wildlife sounds are extremely difficult to record, being either very quiet or a long way away, and so it is a great bonus to be able to use a separate microphone. This could be a microphone used close-up (e.g. next to a bird’s nest) or for gathering long distance sound by using a highly directional microphone. Camcorder-based microphones are poor in both these situations, and pick up a certain amount of camera-noise. Incidentally, it comes as a surprise to many people that most of the sound you hear on wildlife television programmes is not recorded live. Animal and atmospheric sounds are often added later from separate audio recordings made in the field or from sound libraries, with plenty of ‘Foley’ sound (splashing water in a bowl to accompany fish movements, or chewing celery into a microphone as the lion tucks into his zebra-lunch). More on this later. If you wish to use your camcorder underwater then another consideration is which suitable waterproof housings are available. MiniDV camcorders are superb for underwater work as they are small and easy to operate – a common combination with programme-makers has been to use Sony miniDV camcorders with Light and Motion housings, although many other combinations are available. Check out options before you choose your camcorder as housings can be surprisingly expensive. Some camcorders available these days have infra-red capability which may be a consideration if you are planning some night-time filming – of badgers at a sett for example. These cameras usually have tiny infra-red lights around the lens which are not very strong and will illuminate only subjects up to a few metres away.
The
above is © Piers Warren 2006 from the book: The first book on making wildlife films for over 35 years! Click Here For Information about the book Reviews "Go Wild With Your Camcorder is a real gem of a book. Beginners will learn something from virtually every page, whilst the more seasoned independent wildlife filmmaker will still pick up some nuggets of information here and there as well as confirming the techniques they already use. At £11.95 you can’t afford to not buy this book if you are looking to get into this area of video production or simply to improve your existing skills as a wildlife filmmaker." DVuser "As
a keen amateur camcorder user with a passion for wildlife I’ve
been looking for a book like this for years. It’s answered many
questions, given me loads of new ideas and all in friendly language
I can understand. Various technical matters that were confusing me have
been explained and I now have a much clearer idea how the professionals
do it. I’m already getting better results from my camcorder and
have ideas for movies queuing up in my head. I’ve realised how
previously I was just pointing my camcorder at wildlife and recording
– now I am making movies!
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