One of the Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass delegates has been in touch about the ideal kit to buy in 2012. In the wake of the Kodak news, I though I would run a short project….

So I thought I would create a short project to come up with the ideal kit for £1,000.

I have taken the plunge with the assumption of a 550D for the body, and of course a spare battery and some memory cards. But what else would you suggest? What lens or lenses? Filters? Camera support? What EXACTLY should a Guerilla Film Maker spend £1,000 on?

Please tweet me at @livingspiritpix or post this blog and I will update the list throughout the day. At the end I will analyse the results and produce a master list to share.

Finally, if you have any further advice to offer on kit, or ideas on upgrade paths for the future (if you had an extra grand, what lens would you buy for instance) please feel free to comment on the blog.

Current List

Camera Body – Canon 550D

Spare battery (don’t get cheap clones as they don’t hold power, about £30 on Amazon)

3 x 8GB memory cards (SD cards around a tenner each on Amazon)

Zoom H1 audio recorder (£80 on Amazon) (suggested by @dd_opco)

Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens (£80 on Amazon) (suggested by @JonMillsWriter)

Magic Lantern firmware (FREE!) (suggested by @nomoneyforbeer) LINK HERE

Large fold up 5 in 1 reflector, cheap, quick lighting problem solver and no batteries required £40 on eBay (suggested by @rhubarbfilms)

LCDVF viewfinder. Essential for a stable handheld shots (Suggested by Chris Wickett) (link here – £80)

Timer Remote Control RS-60E3 For Canon £15 on Amazon from @tomfranz

560b monopod is a good budget guerilla option (£85 on Amazon) (from @endeavouruk)

Manfrotto 701HDV Fluid Head via @KirkGaydon, £95 on Amazon

Monfrotto 055xProB Tripod via @KirkGaydon, £109 on Amazon

Lots of poeple also recomending the Panasonic GH2 camera too.

@The MissingReel also added ‘1000 is too skinny of a budget so Id shoot HDV and do a Dogme95 film. Invest in story’. Great thought.

@FederalTV also added ‘I also highly rate the Nikon D7000 as an alternative to the over hyped Canon 5d mk2’

@Veronicalbarra added ‘The Canon 600D is better than the 550D for filmmakers because the it has an articulated LCD screen’

Looking forward to more of your expert advice.

Onwards and upwards

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspiritgroup.com

www.ProductionOffice.org

e: mail@livingspirit.com

PS – Remember tickets for the Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass are still on sale for Feb 18th / 19th – get £50 off with discount code CHRISJONES – get your pass here… http://www.guerillamasterclass.com