How to Choose a Camera for Video Lecture Recording During Covid19 Lockdown

With the growing popularity of distance learning, more and more people prefer the video format of educational materials: a video recording of a lecture with a teacher is much more interesting than a regular presentation with text slides.

To create your own video lecture, you need to start with the selection of equipment - this is half the success. In this article, we provide an overview of popular camcorders for recording a lecturer near - video with a “talking head”.

Types of Camera’s

There are several types of cameras suitable for recording a “talking head”:

• Built-in webcams
• External webcams
• Professional 4k Cameras

In this article, we do not consider professional TV and movie cameras: they are very expensive, and recording video lectures are no more effective than conventional cameras. They give a too “polished" picture, while your video should be simple and natural as if you shot it during one of your lectures.

Built-in webcams

Most built-in webcams are good for video calls, but may not be suitable for recording video lectures. The lenses in such cameras are very small: too little light gets on the matrix, and in low light, a poor-quality picture is obtained.

Built-in cameras are best used in brightly lit rooms. In this case, you get a video of acceptable quality. We recommend that you use this video in the iSpring Universal Player, where it is displayed in a reduced form on the side panel.

Professional 4k camcorders

Professional cameras, as a rule, are 5-10 times more expensive than household cameras. Being just as portable, they allow you to shoot the highest quality video such as 4k video and provide more options for connecting external microphones and other additional equipment, such as flashes.

We can use a 4k camera for any purpose, including recording a “talking head”. But we do not recommend purchasing such cameras if you do not plan to record anything other than a video with a “talking head”.

However, if you are planning on recording interviews, events, or lectures, then 4k camera is a smart choice which is not only budget-friendly but also offers you a wide range of features too. Moreover, you can also find some of the cheap 4k cameras for recording your lectures easily.

4k cameras should be used with a tripod or the “Steadicam” system and avoid hand-held shooting. Moreover, 4k cam’s have XLR inputs for connecting professional microphones. So that the quality of sound should be as good and clear as the quality of Video for the lecture.

Household camcorders

Household portable camcorders are universal. They can be used to record almost any video, including a video with a “talking head”.

Camcorders operate on battery power, and video is recorded in the device’s internal memory (SD card).

Some digital cameras can be used not only for recording but also for transferring a video stream to a computer. Such models come with special software and can be used as webcams (for example, GoPro ). However, most of them cannot be used like this: you cannot make video calls or conduct video conferences without special equipment and additional settings.

Many cameras in this category are equipped with a tripod and high-quality lens with optical zoom, which makes them suitable for recording a “talking head”.

External webcams

External webcams are widely used for webinars and video conferencing because they give a higher quality picture than built-in cameras. In addition, some external cameras are equipped with a wide-angle lens or two microphones for stereo sound transmission.

An external webcam is great for recording a talking head. The best option is to use the player for video lectures, in which 50% are presentation slides, and the other 50% is video.

Also on external cameras, you can adjust the resolution, frame rate, color, brightness, etc.

These were the different cameras that can be used to record the lecture or give the live webinar with the quality visuals.