Mark's Blog

I am currently choosing a camcorder that we will use as a companion during the entire production process. Behind the scenes of Silent Terror is going to compelling for reasons that I cannot divulge at present and therefore we require a small handy camera that can go everywhere and capture everything. I thought it would be simple to choose one, however, soon got sucked into a major research task! Panasonic, Canon and Sony all do small cameras, capable of producing stunning HD results, for a reasonable price of around £1,000. I continued to swing between the Canon S11, Panasonic TM300/HS300 and Sony XR520/CX505. After reading reviews and watching lots of YouTube videos, I finally decided on the Sony. However, this was in early January and I knew the International CES was coming up shortly, so I thought I would wait a few more days before ordering just to make sure nothing new and dazzling came out. Of course, it did. I have since been waiting for either the Sony XR550 or CX550. Both look ideal cameras for what I need; great HD picture quality, good low light performance, a 5.1 stereo microphone, manual controls and a new wide angle lens that will allow for a much broader and better perspective in tight filming situations. They are both released on Monday 1st March. I’m still weighing up the benefits of each model, but it looks like the Sony CX550. I’ll let you know which one I go for next week and will upload some test videos to see just what it is capable of. Then, onto the behind the scenes documentary footage…