Navigating the equipment labyrinth for shooting video can seem daunting to those who aren’t gear heads.

What I’ve discovered in the process is that many will find that the smaller cameras offer some distinct advantages to shooting with larger cameras – even if you are shooting video exclusively.  In that vein, SoloVJ has established some resources on the right hand side of every web page to give readers an idea of what I would recommend – I’ve researched this topic to as great an extent as possible and what I’ve discovered is the larger cameras aren’t as necessary as many would have us believe.

I myself work with the following equipment:

• A couple of SONY HC7 HDV camcorders that shoot tape out fitted with SONY A1U Lenshoods
• Azden SMX10 Stereo condenser mic
• Samson Airline Micro Wireless lav
• Audio-Technica Wired lav
• Bogen 3001Tripod with fluid head
• Century Optics Wide Angle lens
• Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ video tapes
• Dell D620 Laptop running 64bit XP Pro with 4GB RAM, 60GB system drive and 250GB video edit drive in removable tray.  Ingest of footage is done via a PCMCIA Adaptec 3 port firewire card.  All post production work is done in SONY’s Video and Audio Production applications: Vegas Pro 8, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 4 and Cinescore 1.0.

Opinionated – more than likely – but then again, I always have preferred doing things differently.

Being agile is as important as getting the shot in my opinion.  If you’re incumbered by all the gear, what good is it to you for getting the shots you need?  The kit I’ve assembled for myself is a solid setup and can do alot of what the bigger boys can – but in a smaller package.

If you have recommendations that you’d like to see added, please feel free to contact me and I’ll do so as soon as possible.