Advice with Filming!

[yensid67]

I just bought a Minolta 12Z...I thought it would be a good investment for my trip for videos! I also bought a handgrip for stabilization purposes. I know selfie sticks are banned but I thought I read that as long as they do not extend like the sticks, they are allowed. What would I set the camera on to get low light shots inside like PotC, Splash, etc. ? I have had always wanted to lips sync to a Disney song while in the parks, has anyone every done this? Not an elaborate production, just a simple point and shoot video of lip syncing with the park as a background! Next question is I will have 2-3 phones that I could use for recording or do you think that 20MP photo Resolution, Hi-Def Video Resolution, 12X Optical Zoom and optical image stabilization better than using the phones in addition to the Minolta?
I also have a small handheld Samsung Camcorder to use. I thought about taking everything and trying to get multiple angles of parade and fireworks somehow?(I thought about setting the camera up for a parade and HOPEFULLY going back for it after parade!? WISE?)
Any advice would appreciated!

 

[thomas998]

I just bought a Minolta 12Z...I thought it would be a good investment for my trip for videos! I also bought a handgrip for stabilization purposes. I know selfie sticks are banned but I thought I read that as long as they do not extend like the sticks, they are allowed. What would I set the camera on to get low light shots inside like PotC, Splash, etc. ? I have had always wanted to lips sync to a Disney song while in the parks, has anyone every done this? Not an elaborate production, just a simple point and shoot video of lip syncing with the park as a background! Next question is I will have 2-3 phones that I could use for recording or do you think that 20MP photo Resolution, Hi-Def Video Resolution, 12X Optical Zoom and optical image stabilization better than using the phones in addition to the Minolta?
I also have a small handheld Samsung Camcorder to use. I thought about taking everything and trying to get multiple angles of parade and fireworks somehow?(I thought about setting the camera up for a parade and HOPEFULLY going back for it after parade!? WISE?)
Any advice would appreciated!

I'm sorry to tell you this... but your camera will not give you very good video on any dark rides. In general getting decent video on a dark ride requires a much higher end camera than the one you are describing. The Minolta 12Z has a small sensor which means that the 20 mega pixels on the chip are insanely small. I hope that you didn't pay much for that camera because it will likely only do any good on sunny shots. Reality is Minolta stopped making cameras over 10 years ago. The brand Minolta was purchased by Elite Brand which really means its low end company that just buys up old brand names to try and trick people into thinking that they are getting the quality that used to be tied to the original brand. So yes you have a genuine Minolta, but it is not a quality camera. I don't know what cameras you have but they may very well take better dark picture than you camera.

 

[yensid67]

Thanks for the heads up! I have LG smartphones that I don't use anymore and plan to take for videoing! I will try to take pictures after dark of the parking lot in front of my apartment, that should give me a sense of what kind of pic I will get, right? Filming inside a dark ride isn't important , but would like to get something from inside for the final 'MOVIE' after I return! Oh well, I will have to sit down and think about the shots I want to get and what shots I can sacrifice! Again, thanks for your info!

 

[thomas998]

Thanks for the heads up! I have LG smartphones that I don't use anymore and plan to take for videoing! I will try to take pictures after dark of the parking lot in front of my apartment, that should give me a sense of what kind of pic I will get, right? Filming inside a dark ride isn't important , but would like to get something from inside for the final 'MOVIE' after I return! Oh well, I will have to sit down and think about the shots I want to get and what shots I can sacrifice! Again, thanks for your info!

If you have a manual for you minolta then get it out and try experimenting with the option when taking video. If you are lucky you can at the very least change the ISO of the camera when it takes video. You will want to try using the highest ISO you can without getting substantial noise. So take some test shots with all the ISOs at night as you described in front of your apartment, then play them back on your TV and see which ones look usable. Most cameras will take video at a much higher ISO than any user will ever think is acceptable just because it allows them to claim they have a high ISO.

 

[yensid67]

If you have a manual for you minolta then get it out and try experimenting with the option when taking video. If you are lucky you can at the very least change the ISO of the camera when it takes video. You will want to try using the highest ISO you can without getting substantial noise. So take some test shots with all the ISOs at night as you described in front of your apartment, then play them back on your TV and see which ones look usable. Most cameras will take video at a much higher ISO than any user will ever think is acceptable just because it allows them to claim they have a high ISO.

What are ISO? Where are they located? At first I thought you were talking about the different filters, but I guess not!? See, I told you I am not tech savvy! But in all fairness, I really haven't looked at the manual!

 

[thomas998]

What are ISO? Where are they located? At first I thought you were talking about the different filters, but I guess not!? See, I told you I am not tech savvy! But in all fairness, I really haven't looked at the manual!

ISO is a setting that most every digital camera has except for very very low end cameras. ISO is best to considered the sensitivity control for the camera's sensor. A higher ISO number means that the camera is more sensitive to light. An example would be if you had a camera kept everything constant except the ISO having it set on 100 might get you nothing but a dark picture if you took a photo in a candle lit room, moving the ISO to 1600 would probably get you a picture that was too dark to see anything clearly while changing to 6400 ISO would likely result in a photo where you could tell what was in the room.

But before you go and set the ISO to the highest number your camera has, you have to realize that as you set the ISO to higher and higher number the quality of the photo well drop. You will get what is called noise in the picture and at some point the amount of noise will become so great that you will have a picture that is not really useable. However, some people will still go to the highest ISO they have because they want something to capture the moment even if it is a very grainy/noisy photo that look bad.

To find out how to set the ISO on your camera you will need to use the manual. On most point and shoot cameras like that one you have it will often be an option that requires you to push the menu button and then find somewhere in one of the options that pop up. A higher end camera will usually have a dedicated button on the camera for ISO but those are normally not point and shoot camera.

 

[yensid67]

ISO is a setting that most every digital camera has except for very very low end cameras. ISO is best to considered the sensitivity control for the camera's sensor. A higher ISO number means that the camera is more sensitive to light. An example would be if you had a camera kept everything constant except the ISO having it set on 100 might get you nothing but a dark picture if you took a photo in a candle lit room, moving the ISO to 1600 would probably get you a picture that was too dark to see anything clearly while changing to 6400 ISO would likely result in a photo where you could tell what was in the room.

But before you go and set the ISO to the highest number your camera has, you have to realize that as you set the ISO to higher and higher number the quality of the photo well drop. You will get what is called noise in the picture and at some point the amount of noise will become so great that you will have a picture that is not really useable. However, some people will still go to the highest ISO they have because they want something to capture the moment even if it is a very grainy/noisy photo that look bad.

To find out how to set the ISO on your camera you will need to use the manual. On most point and shoot cameras like that one you have it will often be an option that requires you to push the menu button and then find somewhere in one of the options that pop up. A higher end camera will usually have a dedicated button on the camera for ISO but those are normally not point and shoot camera.

Thanks Thomas...very simple once I know what it is!