Video Recording Equipment

The equipment listed below turned out to be very suitable for backcountry trekking adventure. It is suitable to make good takes, can be transported easily, is independent from any kind of power infrastructure, and is robust enough for occasional use.

In times of 4K (UHDTV) a resolution of 720p50 seems a little bit outdated. But keep in mind: The equipment has been purchased in early 2013. Additionally, I do not want to put my whole money into equipment, but gain special experience during traveling, and keep this experience on film.

• Camera: Panasonic X-929
  
  • It's a 1080p50 Prosumer camera.
  • The best compromise between weigh, size and functionality.
  • It is so small that It can be put into a coat (hard shell) pocket at rainy days.
  • You can connect an external microphone via a 3.5" jacket for high quality sound recording.
  • Manuel focus for macro pictures. Smooth shift from sharp foreground to sharp background or vice versa.
     
• Rechargeable battery for camera: 3 x Patona for VW-VBN260, 2500 mAh Li-ion 7.2V
  • The standard rechargeable battery with 1250 mAh capacity is a little bit too small.
  • Normally I have one battery in use, one can be loaded simultaneously, and the third is a spare part
     
• SD-Card: 8 x SanDisk Extreme 45 MB/s, SDHC Class 10, 32 GB
  • 32 GB can store 2 hours video in 1080p50 resolution.
  • 16 hours video is enough for 3 weeks holiday.
  • The "Extreme" is more robust than the "normal" variant
     
• External microphone: Rode VideoMic Pro+ (Mono) with Rode DeadCat VMP
  
  • Good compromise between voice and music recording.
  • DeadCat is a must for outside recording
     
• External microphone: Rode VideoMic Pro Rycote (Stereo) with Rode DeadCat VMP
  
  • Good for music recording.
  • DeadCat is a must for outside recording
     
• Circular filter: Hoyer CIR-PL UV
  • Not an expensive filter, but it fits
     
• Tripod for desk
  
  • cheap and lightweight versions.
  • Enough for the small camera, limitation at windy locations or maximal zoom
     
• Tripod for ground
  
  • Rollei Compact Traveler No. 1
  • FLM Centerball 24
  • Gitzo Fluid-Kopf, Serie 1
     
• Tolifo PT-15B LED Panel
  
  • 15 watts
  • color temparature 3200K - 5600K
  • 1500 lumen
  • Dimmer range: 10% - 100%
     
• floor tiller Manfrotto MA 165
  
  • 80 - 130 cm
     
• Solar panel: Sunload 30 Wp, 12V, 1.5A, 0.9 kg
  
  • Fits into a normal daypack. So you can charge during breaks when hiking, not only at the camp site.
  • Enough power to charge a battery at cloudy days, too.
  • Can charge two batteries at sunny days simultaneously.
     
• Rechargeable buffer battery: Powergorilla by Power Traveller, 6475 mAh@12V
  
  • Can be charged at the camp site from solar panel by day.
  • Charge battery for camera overnight.
  • Forms a last resource during a longer rainy period
     
• Charger: 2 x Pixo C2 Universal, homemade cascade equipped
  
  • Can charge different Li-ion types which might help other travel participants who have an energy bottleneck
  • Cascade important to charge 2 batteries simultaneously
     
• AC Adapter, in: 100-240V 50/60Hz, out: 16V 4A
  • If you stay at hotel you can charge the equipment rapidly
     
• Recording Format: 1080p50, 5.1 Dolby Digital
  • Best format available from the camera's perspective
  • Used SDHC cards have no problem to store the data stream online
     

Video Deployment Equipment

Equipment to create, render and store videos. Suitable for the production of HD videos up to 1080p50, Dolby DTS, and burning of Blu-Ray discs. However, I normally create 720p50 videos to have the possibility to move the detail of the take a little bit or to rectify the view of buildings.

• PC:
  • CPU: Intel Core i7-3770
  • Mainboard: MSI B75MA-E33
  • RAM: 16384 MB DDR3-RAM
  • HD1: 256 GB SSD Samsung 840 Pro SATA3
  • HD2: 1000 GB, Seagate SATA
  • Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST
  • Audio: onBoard HD Audio 7.1
  • Burner: Blu-ray LiteOn iHBS112
  • OS: Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
  • Ultra-Silent-Kit
  • Compromise between price and performance. No overclock to keep noise down. Limited to 16 GB RAM for usage with Windows Home Premium. Graphic card which supports 2 HD screens via HDMI. GPU supported by Pinnacle Studio.
• Audio Recording:
  • Microphone: Uher M543
  • preamplifier: homemade
• Screen
  • 2 x BenQ GL2460HM 60.9 cm (24 inch) LED-Monitor with speaker
  • Not high end screens, but sufficient. One screen for Pinnacle Studio work, the other for additional windows (film text, directory content) or Pinnacle Studio Preview
• Sound:
  • 2x Front, 1x Center and 2x Rear: 5x Creative Inspire T10
  • These loudspeakers are known for their well-balanced sound (80 - 20.000 Hz)
  • no subwoofer, because unbalanced
  • Better sound than a cheap 5.1 system.
• Software:
  • Adobe Premiere Elements 2018
  • Voice Recording: Audacity
  • Photo editing: Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI
  • Microsoft Office 2019 (Excel for storyboard, Word for text)
• External Storage:
  • Buffalo Link Station LS220 2 TB configured as RAID1
  • WD Elements 2.5’’, 4 TB
  • WD Elements 2.5’’, 2 TB
• Mastering Formats:
  • Formats are limited by the available feature set of Adobe Premiere Elements 2018
  • Should be most suitable for expected presentation equipment
  1. MPEG-4 1080/p50, 16 Bit Stereo 48 kHz
     • keep material on highest resolution for further integration into other projects
  2. Blu-ray Disc, HD 1280x720/50p, H264, 16 Bit Stereo 48 kHz
     • no 1080p, because not available
     • offers correction of picture (detail, x-, y-, z-correction, small pan & zoom)
  3. MPEG-4, 720p50, 16 Bit Stereo 48 kHz
     • no 5.1 Dolby Digital, because not available
     • no 1080p to allow corrections (see above)
     • most suitable for outside presentation from local storage on Laptop or Tablet
     • basis for YouTube upload
  4. WMV, 720p50, 16 Bit Stereo 48 kHz
     • no 1080p to allow corrections (see above)
     • most suitable for streaming from local server to Laptop or Tablet

Presentation

Equipment to present videos in HD with 5.1 sound in middle sized living rooms

• AV Receiver
  • Onkyo TX-SR508 7.1 home cinema AV receiver
  • Nomen est omen: suitable for home cinema, not for professionals

• Loudspeaker
  • Teufel Columna 300 MK2 5.1 Set
  • Not a TXH device, but earned a lot of excellent reviews. 5 nice slim column-loudspeakers. 250 mm subwoofer

• Blu-Ray disks
  • Samsung Blu-Ray Player BD-6900
  • A good mid class device

• Streaming
  • Sony Tablet Xperia Z WiFi 32GB with 64GB card, Sony IM750 MHL/HDMI Adapter
  • Easy access to Buffalo Link Station to present videos directly from hard disk. User interface for DLNA better than via Blu-Ray Player.

• TV
  • Panasonic 39 inch HD TV
  • For normal presentation purposes

• Projector
  • Optoma EW330
  • WXGA DLP
  • For expansive presentation