@Jerryrails posted:...setting up the lights is 90% of the work. For 95% of my train videos I use my iPhone in a holder...Actually, the lighting is more important than your camera. If you buy a good video camera, $500+, and you have bad illumination, your videos will still suck.
Jerryrails, you make a great point. Lighting is actually the key to good video. Good lighting can make even a cheap camera look pretty good. And, as you said, bad lighting could make even a Red V-RAPTOR XL [X] look bad. (This is a $55,000, 8K video camera.)
Bad lighting could even make THIS CAMERA look bad...
Almost all video cameras on the market these days will make acceptable images. And a smart phone is right up there near the top in overall quality. My problem with using a phone is that you have no control over anything. You can't control the exposure, focus, color balance - nothing. For me, that is critically important when I shoot video because the images I shoot with my small camera have to match the color balance and quality of the images I shoot with the my big camera on the tripod. I'll use both cameras in editing a final video, so they have to match.
I understand that model railroaders are not shooting video at a professional level like this. But there is a solid middle ground between a cheap, fixed-focus GoPro and these expensive cameras. The camcorder approach is one that works for the pro-sumer and will yield better results than a GoPro. And, if you can properly light your scenes, a smart phone will work, too.
