Shooting 8 hour field exams

Hi everyone,

I was hoping I could get some feedback or help with creative solutions regarding filming individuals walk through a house inspecting various elements.

To give an idea of what happens - there's a trainee and trainer - the trainer has to take notes, follow the trainee, and video tape his progress throughout the home. These are typically 8 hour days. We then send the videos to a certification organization. We are trying to come up with a hands free solution, so the trainer is free to jot his notes down and and perform other tasks while maintaining camera focus on the trainee.

The certification organization requires the camera be:

-small and light weight
-record in low resolution
-can record for 8 hours
-external battery configuration
-have to be able to point the camera, as well as have your hands free
-have a flexible carrying system or tripod

We've looked at a few different camera options, but with each one, we seem to hit a roadblock.

We started with Contour hands free camcorders, but have a couple of issues - the people carrying these cameras are not video experts, and we are very concerned that without any viewfinder or visual feedback, they may find it difficult to keep in mind that the camera's pov is constantly linked to their head, so if they look at notes on the clipboard, they lose focus on the trainee. Also, the current models of Contour cameras seemed to have dropped Standard def support (although the Contour HD's are still available on Amazon)

Same goes for the GoPro HD Hero cameras - there is worry about lack of visual feedback. The current GoPro HD mdoels do shoot WVGA though, which puts it above the Contour in what we're looking for.

Other than that, we were looking at some basic handheld camcorders, like the Samsung SMX-F50, or anything that records to .mp4, and giving them a tripod and possibly one of these:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/739122-REG/Dot_Line_DL_0370_DL_0370_H...

We tested one of those hands-free stabilizers, but were not very impressed, and are worried that it will not fit well on some of our heavier trainers and also be very uncomfortable after 8 hours (although the handheld camcorders we've been looking at are all less than a lb.)

I was just wondering if anyone has encountered set-ups like this before or have any suggestions. There is no one else on site to help the trainers, so we can't hook up the camera to a monitor for someone to supervise. I feel like it may one of those situations where I'm just over analyzing the requirements and should just go with one of the hands free action cameras.

I believe I have this in the right forum, but I apologize in advance if I'm mistaken.

I appreciate the bluntness, because quite frankly, "What?" was my reaction as well.

The people viewing and requesting this are from a certification organization separate from my company, and basically they want videos of all the candidates' field exams to verify everything was done properly. Unfortunately their requests seem to be built from common complaints they hear from the examiner's on the field, with little working knowledge of video equipment and some of it's limitations or challenges (especially when it will be used by someone out of the film/video field).

A common field exam lasts 2 hours, but if a candidate is going for multiple certifications, it can be an 8 hour process.

What we have done for submission in the past is just use an inexpensive handheld camcorder with some high capacity batteries, and have the person running the exam carry it around, with the ability to set it up on a tripod when they will be stationary for a while, or need to take notes. There were a lot of complaints, not just from the crew in our organization, but nationwide, that the handheld cameras were slowing the process down or interfering, so the certification group came up with new guidelines requiring hands free operation.

So when I saw the new guidelines, I was at a loss, and after looking through multiple options, all with strong downsides, I wanted to make sure I wasn't completely overlooking something or having a dumb moment.

Bill,

Thanks to both you and Nick for the feedback. I think the best thing I can do at this time is to contact them tomorrow and advise them about the concerns mentioned above. I'll offer the best I can do under the requirements, but just be very frank about the problems they (and those in the field) will encounter with the guidelines set forth. Unfortunately, we don't have any direct control over what is required of us.

Thanks again,
Eric