Best Church Video Camera

One of the most common questions I get asked is 'What is the best camera to use for recording our church services onto video'?

There is no simple answer to this question as you can spend between $1000 to $100,000 on a church video camera and even then having this hardware alone is not going to give you the best video production as there are other factors that you need to consider as well.

Most of the people who ask the question about the best video camera to buy are usually starting a church video department, have a limited budget and don't have any previous working experience of church video production.

My advice to these individuals or ministers is the same and usually depends on what they need the church video camera for.

1. If it is mainly for in house recording of DVDs to give to home bound church members and the budget only allows for a single camera then I would say buy the best consumer or prosumer camera you can afford, but make sure you also get a tripod as well. You should also think about a camera that would easily connect to your PA system to deliver better sound quality as opposed to using the on board microphone.



2. If you are considering any kind of public consumption of your recordings, then I usually advice a minimum of 2 cameras, which means you will also need a video mixer, connecting cables, some kind of intercomm system, not forgetting tripods, a video recorder and a couple of TV monitors.

If you are happy to go with this recommendation, then just buy the best prosumer cameras your budget allows having taken into consideration the above and how good the quality of the final product needs to be (a video podcast will not have the same strict requirements of a TV broadcast).

As far as camera recommendations go a good starting point is the Sony HXR-MC50U which is a compact full HD camcorder with some professional features. It also boasts a 64GB internal memory storage, so tapes are a thing of the past, and recorded footage can now be transfered to your editing hardware in much shorter time scales.

A step up the ladder would be the Sony HXR-NX5U NXCAM Professional Camcorder. This video camera has a lot of features that any professional would be happy with (read the specs on the website as there are too many to list here), uses Sony Dual Pro memomry cards, so no tapes to capture and is full HD.

If you have a larger budget and are looking for a flexible HD system that is upgradable you could consider the Sony PMW EX3, this would allow you start small, and as your needs grow expand to full CCU control for studio use, remote control of cameras etc.

For those wondering what a $100,000 camera looks like, there is the Sony HDC-1500R444, and by the way that price does not include a camera lens which you have to buy seperately.

So in a nutshell there isn't one best church video camera, think about your budget, what you need to record, your church facilities (you might find out improving the auditorium stage lighting would be better than upgrading camera equipment). What is best for you might not even be adequate for another church video department's specifications, and if you are starting a new ministry, start small build up the techical resources, and upgrade as the time goes on. Don't forget to think about video footage archiving and storage, editing requirements as well as podcasting and broadcasting workflows.

More Reading
A Recommended Cheap HD church Video Camera to start with.
Directing William McDowell's London worship concert.

Datavideo HS-2000 user review

This is a real user review of the Datavideo HS2000 HD mobile video production studio from someone who has actually bought the product, not one of those sales pitches designed to entice you to make a purchase.

The Datavideo HS-2000 is designed around the Datavideo SE-2000 the cheapest HD video mixer currently available on the market (october 2010), so if you are thinking of buying that mixer, then this review should give you an idea of what to expect.

First Impressions
Having un-boxed the datavideo HS-2000, I was suprised at how small it was, and I'll talk more about this later.

The construction of the unit is to a high standard as are all the other Datavideo products I've bought, and since the HS-2000 is designed for portable and quick setup, is very compact and can be carried by one person unlike the Datavideo HS-1000.



Datavideo HS2000 features
At the heart of the unit is a 5 Channel mixer (4 HD video channels / 1 DVI computer or 3 HD Video / 2 DVI computer) with inbuilt TBC (time base correctors) allowing silky smooth transitions and switching of your church video sources. In addition there is a 5 station intercomm with tally function and the corresponding 4 belt backs (there are only 4 because you can have a maximum of 4 camera operators).

In addition there is a 4 channel audio mixer with professional XLR connectors so you can either connect microphones (phantom power is also available), or line feed from the in house PA desk, and finally a 17 inch HD monitor for preview and program output monitoring.

There are 2 SDI as well as a single analogue YUV HD video program outputs, so you have enough connections for a recorder, large extenal 'on air' monitor and sending signals to a projector for example. Audio output is catered for by 2 XLR male connectors. Finally there is a HDMI input port that can be used for monitoring purposes and a tally output if required.

Video Mixer design and Layout

As can be expected from a high quality product, a lot of thought has been put into the design and layout of the Datavideo HS-2000 HD video production unit, all controls are well labelled, illuminated and placed in a natural position, and any church video director will be comfortble sitting in front of the HS-2000.



Setup and Operation
One of the reasons why our church bought the Datavideo HS-2000 mobile studio is the fact that we have to setup every Sunday from scratch, and this unit definately eases that process. Plug in a single power adaptor, connect the camera cables, the intercomm cables (if being used), the audio feed from the PA mixing desk, the Digital HD video recorder and we are ready.

If you are setting up for the first time, you will need to configure the HS-2000 to suit your individual needs. Things that need configuring as a system include HD format (720p or 1080i you can't mix formats though, so all cameras need to be 720 or 1080), transistion speed times, Picture in Picture source (if you are going to be using that feature), SDI input 4 (video or DVI), how the audio mixer section works (follow video or not), you only have to do this once unless your needs change.

Operating this live mobile production unit is very easy, press on the rear power switch, and the multi-display screen comes to life, the A/B buses even remembers the last sources selected.
Cutting between sources is as simple as selecting the required camera on the A bus, while mixing requires just cuing the next camera on Bus B (this is shown on the preview screen with the yellow tally light informing the operator to steady their shot ready to go live) and then either using the T-Bar to transit or pressing the take button.



The Picture in Picture is a simple feature to use, though I have found no real life situation where it has been required during our church service recordings.

The Luma key function is something that I would have loved to use to overlay song lyrics over live video during praise and worship, but the Datavideo HS-2000 implimentation requires the use of the B bus to select the key source, this means that I have to stick to cutting between cameras on the A bus (okay for fast songs but not ideal during worship and there is a need to convey the emotion of a slow heartfelt worshipper), so we have to stick with our current method of using 2 projectors.

I don't use the audio mixer apart from routing the supplied in house sound to the Datavideo HDR 50 video recorder and setting the levels as required.
Note: The SE-2000 mixer which this unit is based around does not de-embed SDI audio nor does it embed audio into the SDI output

My impressions of the Datavideo HS-2000

Having used the unit for over 8 weeks, my overall thought is that the unit is very good value for money, a recommended product where quick setup is required (church video departments can not find a cheaper HD mobile production unit on the market), and a corporate video producer will find this is much more affordable than the Sony Anycast workstation. The unit is well built, all controls provide tactile feedback so you know have pressed them, and the T-bar looks and feels professional.

Cons: I mentioned earlier the small size of this unit, which means that it only comes supplied with a 17 inch monitor, and I have found in practice cramming the multi-display unit into it has meant that I can't critically preview my camera sources before going live, and have ended up with a few out of focus shots.
This issue is futher made worse by the fact that I can't connect an external larger monitor to the mixer multi-display output if I wanted to!
If you have a permanent place of worship, then it is best you buy the Datavideo SE-2000 video mixer, and build your system around it, that way you can have a larger monitor that would suit your needs. There are ways of separately monitoring the camera inputs, so when we move to a permanent location I won't be getting rid of the HS-2000 unless of course we need more than 4 camera inputs!
This is my only criticism of an otherwise brilliant affordable HD video product.

Pros:Cheap and affordable, lots of features, portable and light, supports full HD (multiple formats).

In summary the Datavideo HS-2000 is what you need if you are looking for a compact highly portable affordable HD video production unit especially in a church where you have to breakdown after each service. I look forward to many more years of service from this unit just like our cheap SD video mixer gave us.

SDI to Analogue Video Connections

Both the Datavideo SE-2000 and the Panasonic AV HS300 (which we hired for a few weeks to trial HD video on) video mixers and most broadcast quality equipment feature SDI interfaces for connecting to external devices.

SDI stands for Serial Digital Interface and basically means the signal is in digital format and should not be confused with analogue component YUV (which can also be HD) video since both use BNC connectors. One of the advantages of using SDI for church video is that you can potentially have up to a 1000ft cable runs (depends on datarate, quality of cable, etc) without loss of signal quality, and large runs are possible with a distribution amplifer (must re-clock signal). Don't forget that both audio and video can be carried over SDI.

Once you start to use HD, you will find that there will always be a need to connect a SDI output to an analogue piece of equipment, be it a projector, TV monitor or even a church dvd recorder.

We encountered this issue recently, and had to buy a couple of SDI to Analogue mini converters.

The green cable in the picture above is the mixer program output (SDI) and the red connection is a composite analogue feed going to the house projectors. This mini converter can also output component YUV or a S-Video (Y/C) format. It automatically detects if the input signal is HD or SD and downconverts HD if the composite or S-Video format is selected using the DIP switches.



$500 for a converter! Yes this is some of the hidden costs of upgrading to High Definition that a church needs to be aware of. Even if you have a HD consumer DVD player or Projector, you might find out that they either have a HDMI or Component phono connection, as licensing restrictions prevent SDI interfaces being used on consumer products like TVs, Projectors and Recorders.

I thought I'd post this just to make you aware especially if you are thinking of a Multi-camera HD recording setup so you can budget appropriately.

HD Church video Recording

Our church recently bought a mobile HD video recording production studio for our Sunday services, and I've been seeing a lot of searches about using HD cameras for a video ministry, so I thought I'd shed some light on our experiences with this new system configuration we are now using in our church.

Before I do that, I would like to ask the question, do you really need to record your church services in High Definition?
Most church video cameras available on the market today are HD or HDV capable, so you might be tempted to shoot, edit and output in High Definition, but before you do, always ask the question why am I recording these church services, as this usually dictates if HD is required or not.
House bound church members are most unlikely to have Blue Ray DVD players, most video podcast subcribers will probably be watching on a portable handheld device which might be HD capable but what is the point of watching full 720P or 1080i content on a 4 inch screen?

The other main issue most people never consider is that processing HD is much more processor and time intensive and considering most church video ministries are run by volunteers will you have people able to devote the additional resources required?

HD is better quality and looks Good

The church video recorded with the Datavideo HS-2000 shown below illustrates this point, but HD does not guarantee good quality video content. You still need decent camera operators, good lighting conditions to shoot in and a competent technical director in a multi-camera configuration.


Church HD Video Datavideo HS-2000
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Recording church services in HD

I'm going to briefly describe what we use to record our church services in HD for TV broadcasting.
1. Sony EX1 XDCAM Full HD cameras using the SDI output.

2. High grade SDI BNC cables to connect cameras to video mixer up to 30 metres apart.

3. Datavideo HS-2000 HD mobile video production studio. The HS-2000 is based on the popular cheap HD church video mixer that I recommend to ministries interested in starting HD production on a budget. Our HS-2000 also has a built in 5 station intercomm system which is vital for effective Multi-camera directing, so if you decide on the Datavideo SE-2000, make sure you think about how you will communicate with camera operators especially in a loud worship service.

4. A 320GB SDI input HD tapeless digital recorder. This recorder captures full resolution 1080i images directly to a hard drive that we plug directly into our church MacBook pro for editing (no file copying needed) and has XLR connections for audio input.

While not required for HD recording, don't forget good camera tripods as these add to high production values.

Recording in HD how we get on

Before we bought our church HD video switcher, we for a few weeks hired a mixer for proof of concept purposes and to test the ropes, and this served as an eye opener. We had to make sure our HD equipment could interface with existing Projectors, preview monitors and also test what type of digital video recorder we would need.

Other considerations include making sure we knew how HD would affect our current church podcast production workflow, it is amazing how much more time is required to process, store and compress high definition files.

We have now streamlined the process, aquired the additional video editing software required to handle the M2T files produced by the hard drive recorder.
We are now settling down into a routine, and I will in the future post an article on how we connect everything together to help those of you that might want to go down the same route.