Cameras
Well, it's safe to assume you'll need a camera. Most people who get into backyard production already have a camera of some sort. Sometimes, it'll work just fine as a primary or backup camera. Sometimes, it won't. If you haven't purchased a camera yet, here are some rough guidelines as to the features you should be looking for.
Within the scope of amateur production, it's unlikely anyone will be in a position to blow ten grand on a full size ENG DVCAM. This, to a degree, is a good thing. In the 600 to 3000 dollar range, you'll want the following options:
A few examples of suitable cameras include:
Any of these cameras are of sufficient quality to be a primary camera-- e.g. what you will be shooting the majority of your material with. Now, I say primary, as it really is a good idea to have two (or more) cameras if you wish to experiment outside of the traditional kids+dogs type of shoots. Often, it adds a lot of quality and interest to a given shot simply by setting up a second camera and doing a cut to a different angle. Two cameras are also extremely helpful when shooting dialog between two actors. Also, should you wish to experiment with booms, steadicams, and other potentially risky camera situations, it's better to risk the life of a cheaper camera than to kill your primary.
That said, it doesn't do much good to have one excellent camera and one piece of total crap. Two Sony TRV25's will make a final product look much better than one crap-o-matic 200 dollar camera, and an XL-1.
When camera shopping, you should have two primary things in mind: Features and Build Quality. If a camera doesn't have manual focus or FireWire, or feels like it'll snap in half if you squeeze it too hard, don't buy it. Also, beware the friendly salesman. Retail sales is a high-pressure cut-throat business, and all salesmen have one thing in mind: Sell what we have the most of. Most salesman in retail chains such as Best Buy have not one half clue about what they're talking about. As such, one should take their recommendations and "I have this same camera" advice with a grain of salt.
The best place to go camera shopping is a purpose-built camera store. You'll want to find reputable store with a reasonably large inventory, and knowledgeable staff who preferably speak the same language as you do. A good store will have a large selection of new and used cameras, and will let you play with them to your heart's content until you find one you're comfortable with. They should also offer on-site warranty repair and service. Should something go wrong with your camera, it is much better to deal with the people who sold it to you than to ship it off to some random PO box and wait for months with not one clue to what is going on.
Never take no for an answer when shopping. If a salesman insists that the super-spiffy-extra-neato automatic focus of a given camera is far better than manual focus, stick to your guns and tell him or her in no uncertain terms that you want a manual focus camera, or whatever the option at hand happens to be.
The golden rule of cameras is much the same as with any other consumer product: You get what you pay for. Most people don't need an XL-1 to begin shooting rough productions, but on the other hand, if you cheap out on a camera, your final product will end up representing the quality of the camera. Try to find the happy medium between features, build quality, and price.
On to: Computers and Software...
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