Currently using just an Iphone 12 but wouldnt mind a cheap camera thats pretty good in low light(obviously lens aperture has a huge impact here as well as sensor size). Colour grading not so important so C log isn’t an issue. But a small camera set up appeals just so i’m not using my phone all the time. Cheers.
Check out the Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera, you can find the first version for somewhat cheap, if you‘re not looking for 4k and such.
I‘ve had mine since 2013 and haven‘t found a reason to upgrade yet – even used it for work.
Canon M6, and a set of Chinese MF fast primes. The Mitakon 35mm 0.95 gets a lot of use but it’s optical performance seems to have been surpassed by newer lenses. More than good enough for my videos, though.
This is where you might struggle depending on your definition of cheap, and good
Low light can often be a challenge especially for cameras that try to over compensate.
A DSLR is probably the most affordable route - for my videos I use a Nikon D5300 with a fixed 35mm 1.8f lens, which due to the very low aperture introduces a lot of depth of field, which I like.
Zoom Q2n-4K
not sure whether it’s cheap, but definitely on inexpensive side.
Iso introduces noise thats true.
Get some lights before a camera.
To set the scene… very important. Although one could have the best camera in the world, shoddy lighting and poor angles will destroy everything.
Ive got a lot of studio lights left from my old photo days. Not up to date with the latest camera tech though.
No problem with the lighting but i want to keep a bit of atmosphere. You know just use the lighting from the equipment. Thats why i was after a low light sensor and lens.
Ive got a raft of lighting both leds and daylight bulbs on tripods from back in my pro photograoher days. But ive been retired from it all for about 10 years. So my last camera was A Nikon full frame that cost about £5k but is now used as a doorstop🤣
I’m using the Q2n-4k as well, but its video quality is questionable at least. To me it’s on par with some old gopro, really worse than even a cheap smarphone nowadays.
But it’s tiny, cheap and has the same audio recording quality of the other Zoom typical recorder. And the workflow is great as you can extract the sd card, put it in your phone and edit/pubblish from there.
It would nice to use it as sound recorder and added footage with a smartphone/cheap dslr as the main video recorder.
If you’re planning to use a daw for audio recording and some editing software on pc I can’t see any advantage of the Q2n-4k over a Phone/Dslr
I have a Pocket 4K and a GH5. The GH5 is the most convenient because of the flippy screen and the control app I can use on my iPad makes focusing, framing myself very easy. I’m not a big fan of Panasonic colors though, I prefer Blackmagic by far.
I use a Sony a7s MKII with a Zeiss 1.4 50mm.
I can shoot in pitch black rooms.
the MKII’s are cheaper these days, but I wouldn’t consider the rig cheap.
But thats the rub with low light shooting, you get what you pay for.
I say stick with the iphone, they do really well, buy some cheap lights, doesn’t take much.
If this is for your enjoyment, then atmosphere is a good thing. If this is for anyone else, especially from a music production standpoint, they will not appreciate atmosphere nearly as much as well,lit, easily observable views of your gear and the music making process.
I click on dimly lit, atmospheric videos all the time hoping to see the music production but quickly exit the video because I can’t see the equipment or person playing.
Good point cheers