theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards
Which camera is best for magic?
- Thread starter Ang
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i would use a video camera, if you use a picture camera it wont capture much haha.
but really. i dont know much about them. but it all depends on what you can afford and what you want to do with it.
flip cameras are nice because they are easy to transfer to the computer and they take nice hd video. they on the other hand dont look as professional. if you get a bigger camera ppl will take you more serious and will be more open to magic.
but really. i dont know much about them. but it all depends on what you can afford and what you want to do with it.
flip cameras are nice because they are easy to transfer to the computer and they take nice hd video. they on the other hand dont look as professional. if you get a bigger camera ppl will take you more serious and will be more open to magic.
There is no one good camera for magic and not one good camera at all. It's all about what functions you need, your budget, and what works for you. I would go to bhphotovideo.com and just look through cameras. They have a huge selection of cameras, tons of accessories, and great customer support!
I believe the "issue" would be more as to what will give you the best "Broadcast Quality" not so much "which camera"... Needless to say "the best" anything is going to cost you some serious cash. I'm betting however, few of the people here invested more than a few hundred dollars on their camera (less than $1,000.00) while the "best" retail for several thousand. I know of one working pro that depends on two cameras that cost well over $5,000.00 each for shooting his live shows (he gives copies to the people that help out on stage).
The other three things you need to look at is the Lens, Filters and of course Lighting -- which combination is best for shooting the action under the setting you are working under? What works for outdoor shoots on a sunny summer day in Las Vegas is what will give you the best results when working a dimly lit pub or grunge joint... while you can use the same camera lens & filters will have to be changed along side adjustments in the lighting in the majority of instances... that is, if you want to create the "Best" possible video rendering of Your Best material... which hopefully, everyone else will see as being "The Best" magic they've ever seen... but as Billy McComb once pointed out (I believe he was echoing Max Maven) "Good Magic is like Good Sex -- Just Harder to Find" so the bar is resting rather high for you to be "The Best" and worthy of all those other "best things" used in supporting you...
Think about it.
The other three things you need to look at is the Lens, Filters and of course Lighting -- which combination is best for shooting the action under the setting you are working under? What works for outdoor shoots on a sunny summer day in Las Vegas is what will give you the best results when working a dimly lit pub or grunge joint... while you can use the same camera lens & filters will have to be changed along side adjustments in the lighting in the majority of instances... that is, if you want to create the "Best" possible video rendering of Your Best material... which hopefully, everyone else will see as being "The Best" magic they've ever seen... but as Billy McComb once pointed out (I believe he was echoing Max Maven) "Good Magic is like Good Sex -- Just Harder to Find" so the bar is resting rather high for you to be "The Best" and worthy of all those other "best things" used in supporting you...
Think about it.
Personally, you wouldn't need a camera for performing in the real world. I don't see much use of YouTube besides people commenting "Nice job but i figured it out" and "i figured it out but nicely done". Sure it can help if you want a magician's perspective, but the main effective way is to test it out on real people and see what they think. This is why I quit making videos for YouTube a long time ago because little kids kept flooding my comments box with those remarks. I was getting sick of trying to fool THEM, and not real audiences. So forget a camera, or at least an expensive one, and go perform for real people. However, Simon linked a very great website. Definitely go check it out.
well what I want to do is preform for real people with a video camera so I can post it on youtube or anywhere else. so I'm not just sitting in front of my computer and I do agree that the Youtube users get really annoying( I disable the comments box for that reason). But thanks for your opinion I will keep it in mind when looking for a video camera.
thanks to everyone else also for the all the advice it really helps
Craig has hit the nail on the head. Everything he has mentioned is dead on so I will not regurgitate what he said. Just give him two thumbs up.
If your lighting is too hot "bright" you lose the pips on the faces of the cards and they will look like white blank cards. I've seen this even on Magic Castle footage of some performers. The house lights are way too hot and even the best video editing software has a hard time correcting it.
If your lighting is too hot "bright" you lose the pips on the faces of the cards and they will look like white blank cards. I've seen this even on Magic Castle footage of some performers. The house lights are way too hot and even the best video editing software has a hard time correcting it.