Topic: Canon ZR500 Cam

[soulfishguitar]

I am going to the RATM show in Wisconsin on the 24th and I was wondering if my Canon ZR500 is suitable for recording at the show.  I have recorded my band (very loudly) many times and haven't had much trouble that some slight EQ, etc. couldn't fix.  But I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a concert such as this.  Thanks in advance.

[TheMaestro]

I would think it should work fine.  I wouldn't expect spectacular video quality though. I used a zr850 to record Marilyn Manson last night.  Use auto focus, zoom up on an object at the back of the stage and make it focused. This will ensure that anything in front of it will always be in focus(thanks to whoever posted this before me.)  This may not always work though.  You will also want to watch the exposure, and change it on the fly if manually adjusting.  Zooming isn't everything.  You don't need to get the close-ups of a guitar solo or fill the screen with their faces, chances are it will look like s***.  Last night was my first real show with a camcorder and the video has taught me a lot already.  You may want to find a spot where the lights from the stage won't shine directly into the lens.  This will improve the quality of your video a lot.  Seeing how it's at alpine valley,  I would think that the audio at the very least will be decent.  Bass may get distorted.
With these small canon camcorders, try to zoom in so you never have less than half the stage in view.  I personally like videos that have most of the stage in view compared to ones filled with close up shots.  There you have it. One opinion.
   

[beefstew]

i have this exact same camera and its definatly suitable for the show.the audio holds up pretty good on its own, you should be fine, but it does have a mic in jack if you want to hook up a BB and mics.

i agree with everything in the above post too - just make sure if you need to adjust the exposure - do it in-between songs

[Josh P]

I am going to the RATM show in Wisconsin on the 24th and I was wondering if my Canon ZR500 is suitable for recording at the show.  I have recorded my band (very loudly) many times and haven't had much trouble that some slight EQ, etc. couldn't fix.  But I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a concert such as this.  Thanks in advance.

I know this venue is big, but if I were you I wouldn't mention who or where I plan on stealthing before it actually happens.  Ya never know who will decide to log on here anymore..

With these small canon camcorders, try to zoom in so you never have less than half the stage in view.  I personally like videos that have most of the stage in view compared to ones filled with close up shots.  There you have it. One opinion.
   

you're nuts.  I can't sit through static full stage shots anymore, I need a little action.

But I guess we're assuming he won't be using a tripod and is not a professional handheld camera operator.  In that case, yeah, stick with the full stage shots.  Tight zooms are always harder to hold steady.

i agree with everything in the above post too - just make sure if you need to adjust the exposure - do it in-between songs

hmm, I guess I don't disagree with this, but I don't agree with it either.  I change the exposure as soon as I see that I'm blowing out or if everything is too dark.  Usually ends up being during a song so I can see the lights at their brightest.  In fact, I think in between songs security is more apt to scan the crowd for LCD displays, lighters, etc while the lights are down.

[soulfishguitar]

Thanks for the advice everybody!

[TheMaestro]

you're nuts.  I can't sit through static full stage shots anymore, I need a little action.

But I guess we're assuming he won't be using a tripod and is not a professional handheld camera operator.  In that case, yeah, stick with the full stage shots.  Tight zooms are always harder to hold steady.

bahh, it was late and I wasn't really thinking.  I didn't mean full static stage shots.  I agree with you those are really boring.  Just don't try to pull a zoom if you will have the camera shaking all over the place.
If you have a ledge or mono pod to steady the camera and you manually focusing go for some zooming action, but when you are zooming throw in a variety of different shots/close-ups.

[stevetoney]

I also have the ZR500.  I personally can't stand the audio through the camera mics.  If there's any way possible, you should at a minimum get an external mic and plug into the mic jack.  You might want to test it first though to make sure it works as well as the internal mic.  No matter what, it's my opinion that if you don't synch your video with a decent quality aud recording, your video is gonna have limited appeal for watching later.  There's nothing worse, for my own personal experience, than trying to watch a video that has audio run through a crappy onboard mic...and the ZR500 has the crappiest mics.

Anyway, beyond that, what you wanna also do is set the camera on manual focus at the start of the show and set your focus on something on the stage.  What happens if you don't do that is that when the lights go low, the ZR500 loses its fix on the automatic focus and then your image will blur until the lights go bright enough that the camera can auto focus again.  Sometimes it doesn't matter how bright it is, it will lose focus in red lights.  For some reason, this camera doesn't like red lights...although I guess that's not an uncommon phenomenon on all video cameras.

Hmm what else.  If you want a watchable video, you DEF need some kind of support for your camera.  if you don't have at minimum a mono-pod, then you're wasting your time trying to video tape because you absolutely will NOT get a video that you'll consider worth watching later.

Monopods work pretty well.  If possible, get yourself positioned in the center of an row, as far away from the aisles as you can get.  Even if the camera nazi see you, they'll have to make some effort to tell you to take it down and some of the lazier or older ones won't bother...and you can make like you never see them if they're waving their arms trying to get your attention.

Although people standing in front of you can be a pain, in general the more standing people there are in the vicinity of where you are filming, and the more commotion there is, the less likely you are to be discovered.  That doesn't necessarily bode well for the cleanest video and you'll probably have some heads ducking in and out of your video, but it beats getting caught.

You might try further camoflaging the camera by draping something over the top, like a black towel and just leaving the lens exposed.

Good luck