Widlife Films - Go Wild with Your Camcorder

Digital camcorder, Mini DV camcorder, HD, High Definition,
what do these terms mean and what is the best camcorder for you?

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 simple high definition handycam. The reason it gets a lot of use is that it is small, lightweight and fairly inexpensive – 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 great image 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. As the cost of digital cameras continues to fall I really would recommend you take this route.

If you are looking to upgrade, or to buy your first camcorder with wildlife filming in mind, then there are many 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, and better quality images will be obtained if the camera is three CCD chip DV or DVCAM or higher. 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 really should be aiming at HD (High Definition).

• 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 – which for some years has been the most popular format in the digital domain.

• 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. Note that these chips also come in different sizes (quarter inch, third inch, half inch etc.) the larger the chip, the better the quality.

• 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.

• SD or Standard Definition (most TVs in current use although people are rapidly moving over to HD sets) 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.

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.

• HD (or HiDef) stands for High Definition which relates to the increased 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. High definition provides 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 have widescreen HD TVs.

• HDV is the name often given to high definition camcorders recording on to video tape (miniDV tapes for example).

Your budget may well be the deciding factor (isn’t it always?). If you can’t spend more than a couple of hundred pounds then you will probably be aiming at a single-chip DV camcorder – there are many available (see www.amazon.co.uk or Argos for great prices, or eBay as mentioned). The majority currently record on to miniDV tapes, but there are some that record on to other formats such as DVD, Digital-8 or HDD (direct on to hard disc drive – file-based recording). If you go down the high definition route, AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) is a format for recording HD in a tapeless system – often on to an internal hard disc or memory card – which is becoming increasingly popular.

If you can afford more than a few hundred pounds then you can start looking at three-chip SD camcorders or HD, and if you can approach several thousand pounds then you will almost certainly be looking at HD and ideally an interchangeable lens system (of great value to the wildlife camera operator as you will be able to swap between wide-angle lenses, zooms, macros and endoscopes).

At this point I must mention the Canon XL series of camcorders which have been favourites with wildlife film-makers the world over for some years (amateur, semi-pro and some professionals). They 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. For a long time they were the only camcorders under £5,000 that allowed you to do this. Currently the top of the range is the high definition Canon XLH1, but the SD models (XL1, XL1s and XL2) are still popular and can be purchased second hand at very reasonable prices.

Now there are other high definition cameras available with interchangeable lenses suitable for wildlife film-makers such as the JVC GY-HD111E and Sony PMW-EX3 XDCAM EX.

I should point out that most 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). Initially these were expensive formats beyond the reach of many amateurs and (some) independents, but as the cost of high definition cameras is falling this is now changing.

• 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 should certainly invest in an HD capable camera.

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. Those that allow you to attach a specialist macro lens will produce stunning close-ups.

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! It’s worth pointing out that SD camcorders currently have higher optical zooms (20x, 30x even over 40x), whereas HD cameras often have lower (10x, 12x or 15x) so this is another consideration when selecting your equipment.

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 may 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, and increasingly HD is being used for underwater work too. 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.

If you want to film something further away in the dark you can supplement this with stronger infra-red lights – for example you can use old car headlights with the glass covered by an infra-red film, powered by a car battery. A further option would be to buy a separate infra-red camera later if you needed it. These can be obtained through specialist camera suppliers or, once you know what you are looking for, through other avenues such as eBay (search for ‘infra-red cameras’ on eBay for example and you will be presented with hundreds of options).

The above is © Piers Warren 2009 and is an updated chapter from the book:
'Go Wild with Your Camcorder - How to Make Wildlife Films'
published by WILDEYE

The first book on making wildlife films for over 35 years!

"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!
I’ve even found myself contemplating a career in this field.
Highly recommended for anyone wanting to get more out of their camcorder – especially if wanting to record wildlife/nature."