How To Choose A Video Camera

Let's take a look at the pros and cons of various devices. Neither is better than the other as it depends on your budget and use cases.

Phones / Tablets
So these are the most accessible devices and you probably have one right now. There is a saying which is the best camera is the one you have on you. Phone/tablet productions are unique because they are mini computers and are online so you can do interesting computational shooting and collaborative workflows with them. Some of the software I like to use are as follows.

  • Blackmagic Camera. I use an iPhone but this is available for Android also. This is a great app that allows compatible (powerful enough) phones / tablets to shoot in manual mode, LOG format, selecting your own mics, and can connect to blackmagic cloud which allows you to send footage straight into the editors desk remotely.
  • Davinci Resolve for iPad. (I recommend M1 chip of higher). This is one of the best editing software and it's available for iPads.

Mirrorless Camera
The next step up is a popular one because of size and cost. The reality is who want to carry something big and heavy? Mirrorless cameras are smaller and lighter than their older DSLR ancestors and have improved their video recording capabilities. Not all manufacturers are the same though as their heritage, lens selection, and features may make some more suited for certain tasks than others. Let take a look at some manufacturer's video capability as a system. A few general CONS of being small in size is that battery life is shorter because the battery is smaller (vs camcorders and cinema cameras), there are more limited connectivity (audio XLR maybe addon, video has no SDI, timecode), and once again the limitation of being small is there could be some recording limits due to possible overheating.

  • Sony. The native 1st party and 3rd party lens selection is the best. Their flagship mirrorless cameras have leading performance. So if you want, "the best" in terms of speed, resolution, they have something. If you are on a budget, you have something as well. For video production only, there are upgrade possibilities to their cinema FX line and cinema cameras. Only the cinema line and cameras are robust enough for long form content. The other Alpha mirrorless cameras are more photo centric and have a chance of overheating so are good only for shorter duration video productions.
  • Canon. The lens selection for Canon RF mount is small than that of Sony E-mount as there's not much 3rd party support so these aren't "budget options". As a professional, this may or may not deter some people from choosing this system as the cost barrier of entry is higher. Their flagship systems are also very good. To do long form you need to use something like R5C and anything else in their cinema line as their smaller cameras do overheat on longer takes.
  • Nikon. They are a little bit late to the game but have solid mirrorless offerings. I would still consider their mirrorless offers still more photo centric. The lens selection is decent now and have some third party options. At this moment, they don't have options in terms of upgrading as there's no Nikon cinema line. Although they have acquired RED, the ecosystem is not fully integrated with Nikon's mirrorless offerings. 
  • Panasonic / LUMIX. They helped create the mirrorless genre with the micro four thirds mount. Their top micro four thirds cameras are great hybrid cameras and are the most capable in terms of video features. The lens selection is huge on micro four thirds as it's one of the oldest systems along with Sony E mount. Since their full frame S line with Leica L mount is fairly new, the lens selection is limited.  Most of their cameras also do not overheat with the exception of the latest S1II / E, S1RII. If you can do what you need with a LUMIX camera, it offers the best video features.  Some notable ones include, anamorphic lens support, open gate recording, best image stabilizer, various digital "zooming" tools, video assist tools such as simultaneous different frame makers, false color, histograms. Overall I'd say the Panasonic offerings are the most complete for video production and the photos are decent (not class leading). The have entry level options to mid level which meets the needs of most.

Camcorder
These have become niche use devices in the sense that they are big and the image quality is less than the mirrorless cameras so people would prefer either mirrorless cameras for convenience and quality OR the with entry level cinema cameras for a different kind of ergonomics and also better image quality. So why would you use these? Well for one, everything is integrated. The lenses usually have a big zoom range and are power zooms, ND filters are built in, audio inputs are robust, there's lots of connectivity given the larger size, and you can use huge batteries for extended battery life. You have to rig up a mirrorless camera or entry level cinema camera and you wouldn't have equivalent lenses on those systems.

Cinema Camera (Entry Level)
Only Sony and Canon have offering here. They are all solid for long form work.

    • Sony FX30 (this is APS-C while the rest mentioned are full frame, FX2, FX3, FX6 (Electronic ND is the most flexible). These have great autofocus, cheaper, and offer compact size options vs Canon. The FX9 has been discontinued.
  • Canon C70 (APS-C and uses unique DGO sensor), C80 (triple base ISO), C400 (triple base ISO).