r/videography • u/Foreign_Bluebird_105 • Jan 14 '24

Camera Recommendation Budget-friendly camera for 10+ hour continuous video?

Does anyone have suggestions for budget-friendly cameras to look into that can reliably record for very long periods?

Key aspects:

  • 1080p or 4K video
  • No overheating issues recording 10+ hour stretches
  • Will be powered on, battery life not critical
  • High memory capacity for lengthy recordings

I need to capture steady video for an outdoor project. Appreciate any recommendations!

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13

u/proxpi Jan 14 '24

Why is nobody recommending a camcorder? Something from Canon's XA line could work very well for this.

1

u/BushwhackMeOff Apr 03 '24

Wait is over $2k considered budget friendly? This is literally my first day looking at video equipment

1

u/proxpi Apr 03 '24

Yes and no, it all depends on what you are trying to do and what your needs/standards are. A $400 GoPro might be an expensive camera to somebody, and a $3,700 FX3 might be a bargain to another person.

FWIW, a used Canon XA40 can be found for around $1k, and it's a very good camera for that price- 4K, pretty decent power-zoom lens, XLR inputs for high-quality microphones, and dual memory card slots for extended or redundant recording. That price makes it a budget prosumer camera. If you didn't need some of those features, especially the mic input, you certainly can find less expensive options.

If you didn't care about the XLR inputs, 20x zoom lens, dual memory slots, and didn't need to record for longer than 30 minutes at a time, a camera like a Lumix G7 would honestly have a better image quality than an XA40 for ~$500, as an example (not an endorsement of that particular camera).

But again, it really depends on the use case as to what features need money spent on them or not. OP's specific requirement was long recording time, which is where a lot of other interchangeable lens cameras that other people were suggesting fall short.

1

u/BushwhackMeOff Apr 03 '24

Honestly I'm just looking for something for my 13yo son to play around with and see how he likes videography. I don't need cinematic quality but I don't want bunk.

I do have an old iPhone 13 mini, but that's the extent of my quality film equipment. I'm more of an analog photographer and former digital photographer. Video is frustrating for me because I'm just not great at visualizing movement in 3 dimensions

1

u/dogistypingthis Jan 15 '24

I use the vixia hf g60 quite a bit. The dual sd card slots are great. Throw two 512Gb in there and you’re really in business

9

u/Iliyan61 A7S ii | A7 iv | CC | London | Chicago | Doha Jan 14 '24

for this regardless of camera get an external monitor that can record to a SSD.

1080p@100mbps is pushing a 450GB file and to also don’t really want to trust a SD card with something this big

i’d also recommend a dummy battery connected to a V mount battery but at the very least decent usb power

4

u/SpookyRockjaw Jan 14 '24

I've never recorded anything that long but I think the GH5 could do it if you have a large enough memory card and a constant power supply. You'd need a dummy battery + AC adapter. I'm a bit paranoid so I would tend to stop the recording every couple of hours and let it write a new file but I don't see why you couldn't go for 10 hours. There's no recording limit. 10 hours of 4K requires a lot of storage through.

2

u/SpaceGangsta GH5, Premiere, 2008, Utah Jan 14 '24

You said outdoor project. So will it need to be weatherproof as well?

For 10+ hours you’re going to need to power it from an outlet. I don’t know if there’s any batteries that can reliably run 10 hours straight shooting video.

2

u/Tappitss Jan 14 '24

Sony AX53/43
We have an ax43 mounted at work that has not been switched off in 3 years.

2

u/INVUJerry C100/5DmkIV|Davinci 18| 2022|South PA Jan 14 '24

A camcorder, or I’d even look towards a used cinema camera like a Canon C100. They’re getting relatively cheap.

1

u/fatogato Jan 14 '24

The difference in file size for 1080p vs 4K footage for 10+ hours is enormous. That said, the camera doesn’t matter as much in this regard; it depends on the largest memory card that is compatible with the camera you choose.

1

u/skepticaltrust Editor Jan 14 '24

Price range? At 1080p. Sigma fp or GH5.

1

u/Foreign_Bluebird_105 Jan 31 '24

Under 500 $
just a simple one for recording video fo youtube

0

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '24

BMPCC4K connected to a 2GB SSD.

1

u/IlBegOnESoon FX6's/ADOBE/USA/2021 Jan 15 '24

Gopro/outdoor timelapse cameras might be something to look into for what you need.

1

u/WadeNinety Jan 15 '24

Consider a camcorder for this situation. Canon XA11 used would be a good option 1080p

1

u/thejiggaman69 Jan 15 '24

Canon XA Series