Re: Camera Choices

[kyle powers] "I was hoping for feedback on the pros and cons of the various technologies and feature options with my stated use in mind (IE indi film, in doors and out with probable low light requirements)."

I admire your passion. If you think you can do it, you probably can. And I've said it before, so I'll say it again:

Storytelling and video ain't about the codecs, wiring, lenses, and all the other amazing, complex tools; it's about the audience, the ones receiving/experiencing the work. You'll want to know words like denouement, catharsis, proscenium, mise en scene.

So many movies I see from the school of "just buy a camera, get an internship, and go for it" are riddled with cliches--cliches in the story, dialogue, and character--cliches in the camera, editing, and acting.

There's a couple thousand years worth of drama to read and watch and 150 years of cinema to screen.

Capturing clean pic and audio: easy.
Making a movie that 1,000,000 people want to pay $10 to see: really really really really hard.

I realize it's not very democratizing-of-cinema of me to say any of those cameras you listed are not going to do the trick of getting your movie onto a "big screen." The process that changes the micro-resolution into massive resolution is extremely expensive. Budgets like "Crank 2" can afford it. Even if you shot on Kodak Vision 3, you probably won't get onto a big screen without the basics of cinema storytelling: film language, how to tell a story with your camera. The different shots, how they work together, how to transition from an objective angle to a subjective angle. Planning the edit points. There's a lot of details.

Where does on begin? Using the camera you can afford, and telling compelling stories with it. You'll find limits with locations, stunts, actors, settings. Be sure to keep money available for things like: food for the crew, liability insurance for the shoot, and post production. A wise editor I know said "Editing is not the most important part of the movie; it IS the movie."

To sum, the pros of the cameras you listed are "at least you have some passion and can learn." The cons are you'll need to start small as in 1 minute - 10 minutes of story. Pulling off a 120 minute feature length movie your first time out of the gates is a nightmare scenario.