Journalism Equipment Guide

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WHAT’S HOT FOR 2018: We are still in love with this great shoe mount that allows you to attach your H1 Zoom recorder to a DSLR camera. That will free up your hands when you are shooting video and still give you quality audio from your Zoom.

Don’t forget that if you are using your smartphone to document video, that you need to have the mount that allows you to attach your smartphone to a tripod. Students in RW2, Digital Storytelling 1 and 2 and Smartphone Video who use a mobile device are required to have this.

 

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR JOURNALISM

(Photojournalism students should see the section below that specifically lists their required equipment)

All journalism students must purchase a 1T (minimum) external hard drive for upper level production classes like Digital storytelling or Metro Minutes. Students may not store any projects or files on department computers. A hard drive is required for both Digital Storytelling or Visual Communication.

Hard drive specs:

1T minimum

USB 3 and FireWire 800 ports

7200 RPM

Drives should be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled) for use with department computers.

We strongly recommend that incoming undergraduate students purchase a DSLR camera for multimedia (photos and video). Although we allow students to use certain smartphones for multimedia, a DSLR is a better investment and will produce higher quality media. Students who invest in a DSLR will be more competitive for freelance and internships while studying at Columbia. 

LAPTOP COMPUTER

The Journalism Department has classrooms and labs equipped with the latest Apple computers and software. You are not required to have a personal computer, but it may make your life easier if you decide to work on your projects or assignments when our labs are not open. Having a laptop also will allow you to produce freelance journalism. For basic word processing and some limited multimedia, you can use either a PC or Mac, although most journalists in the field use Mac computers, particularly to produce multimedia. For students interested in broadcast or digital journalism, we recommend the AppleMacBook Pro. While more expensive, Mac laptops are sold with the basic software and tools needed to edit photos and create video projects. We recommend the MacBook Pro over the Air because it’s a better computer for the value, with a larger hard drive, a faster processor and more data ports. The Air is a streamlined version of the Pro. But it’s not the computer for a student journalist to grow into as a professional. In other words, it is too streamlined for journalistic work. The Pro has the features that a journalist needs, particularly when it comes to multimedia. We recommend the 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Pro for these reasons.

APPROVED SMARTPHONES FOR MULTIMEDIA:

iPhone 5S or higher

iPod Touch 5 or higher
Samsung Galaxy S4 or higher
Nexus 5 or higher

LG G4 or higher

If you plan to use your smartphone for multimedia, you will need to purchase a mount to attach the phone to a tripod. Please make sure the mount you buy fits your phone.If you do not plan to record separate audio with your Zoom when using your phone for video, you will need to attach a microphone to the phone. The phone itself does not record adequate quality audio for multimedia projects. You can use the H1 Zoom or attach a microphone to the smartphone. 

Equipment requirements by courses

REPORTING AND WRITING 1 (JOUR 105) and COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WORKSHOP (5JOUR 106)

H1 Zoom audio recorder AND accessory pack.

Stereo headphones (NOT earbuds)

REPORTING AND WRITING 2 (JOUR 205)

Smartphone from approved list

OR

DSLR such as the Nikon D3300 or Canon Rebel T6i

AND

Tripod

Tripod mount (if using a smartphone)

DIGITAL STORYTELLING 1 (JOUR 350) and DIGITAL STORYTELLING 2 (JOUR 450)

VISUAL COMMUNICATION (COMM 210)

Hard drive

SMARTPHONE VIDEO (JOUR 141)

Tripod

Tripod mount

PHOTOJOURNALISM Students

At least one professional-level SLR digital camera that also shoots HD video

Two lenses

H1 Zoom

Tripod

Hard drive

ONLINE TECHNOLOGY TRAINING

Columbia College Chicago provides free training through Lynda.com, which has more than 60,000 tutorials available for students to access for free. Video tutorials include Adobe Photoshop, iMovie, Final CutPro, Audacityand podcasting, iPhone and iPod Touch and WordPress. To access the site, go to oasis.colum.edu and log in with your Oasis ID and password. Click on the Training Tab and then on Lynda.com. For additional instruction, you might also search YouTube.com for tutorials.

PURCHASING

Students may use financial aid to purchase required or recommended equipment. Please make sure that you budget properly for it when applying for financial aid.

Amazon

B and H

Adorama

For questions about any of the equipment on this guide, please contact Prof. Jackie Spinner at jspinner@colum.edu.