Minimum recommended basic video camera setup

[mklebig]

The most important factor for recording video in church is low light performance. Most churches are not that brightly lit so video from a video camera can seem quite grainy as the automatic gain feature kicks in. I also recommend a video camera with mic/line in, headphone out, composite video out, internal flash and SDHC flash card recording capability, minimum 10x optical image stabilization (use of digital image stabilization is not recommended - creates too much noise in the video signal), and HD/SD recording capability. If you ever shoot any video that you subsequently wish to edit, unless you have an extremely powerful computer, you will want to record in SD to make it easy to edit on a less than workstation class computer. The AVCHD recording format for HD is the culprit and, unfortunately, all these consumer and even most prosumer video cameras record HD video in that format. For basic needs, either of the following two video cameras meet all the above criteria:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838311-REG/Sony_HDR_CX580V_HDR_CX580V_HD_Camcorder.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/909738-REG/Sony_hdr_cx430v_b_HDR_CX430V_HD_Handycam_Camcorder.html

You will need a tripod to mount the video camera. This one is low cost, is easy to use and pans and tilts very smoothly: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/537863-REG/Pearstone_VT_2500B_VT2500B_Video_Tripod_System.html

The video camera does have an on-board mic but it is always best to use either an external mic or bring in audio from your soundboard into the mic input as a line input. If you have an existing wireless mic system, if you purchase a 2nd wireles mic receiver, you can connect the output of that receiver to the mic input so you can record quality audio for those times you wish to record somewhere out of reach of your soundboard.

For basic video editing, you do not need to purchase any editing software. You can get started quite nicely with either iMovie (for Apple) or Windows Movie Maker. Either of these enable editing and output to web or DVD.

You can check for best prices on the web for these products but beware of those that advertise prices that seem "too good to be true". I know, I have been burned by these types a few times. I find that I usually end up buying from either Amazon or BH Photo Video.

That's it!! Hope this helps.

[mklebig]

The most important factor for recording video in church is low light performance. Most churches are not that brightly lit so video from a video camera can seem quite grainy as the automatic gain feature kicks in. I also recommend a video camera with mic/line in, headphone out, HDMI video out, internal flash and/or SDHC/SDXC flash card recording capability, minimum 10x optical image stabilization (use of digital image stabilization is not recommended - creates too much noise in the video signal), and 4K and/or HD recording capability. If you ever shoot any video that you subsequently wish to edit, unless you have an extremely powerful computer, you will want to record in HD to make it easy to edit on a less than workstation class computer. The recording format for HD is typically H.264 (MP4) for most consumer video cameras and even most prosumer video cameras record HD video in that format. For basic needs, either of the following two video cameras meet all the above criteria:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1383054-REG/panasonic_hc_v800k_hc_v800_full_hd_camcorder.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01950TCEU?tag=eproundupshorttable-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1

You will need a tripod to mount the video camera. This one is low cost, is easy to use and pans and tilts very smoothly: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/842085-REG/Magnus_VT_3000_Tripod_System_with.html

The video camera does have an on-board mic but it is always best to use either an external mic or bring in audio from your soundboard into the mic input as a line input. If you have an existing wireless mic system, if you purchase a 2nd wireless mic receiver, you can connect the output of that receiver to the mic input so you can record quality audio for those times you wish to record somewhere out of reach of your soundboard.

For basic video editing, you do not need to purchase any editing software. You can get started quite nicely with either iMovie (for Apple) or Windows Movie Maker or Windows Video Editor (on old computers) and Clipchamp on newer Windows 10 or 11 computers. Either of these enable editing and output to video files in various file formats.

You can check for best prices on the web for these products but beware of those that advertise prices that seem "too good to be true". I know, I have been burned by these types a few times. I find that I usually end up buying from either Amazon or BH Photo Video.

That's it!! Hope this helps.