"That sweet, juicy R rating us adults are truly craving?"
Uhh. What? Bad grammar aside, I was unaware that anyone craves a particular movie rating, ever. What, exactly, is your criteria for watching and enjoying a film? It's been proven a thousand times over that star power, special effects, and big budgets can't and don't guarantee a film that anybody wants to see, but somehow a certain movie rating is the golden ticket to box office success?
If you want a great film, you start with great writing, because story is king. Period. The rest of it is always secondary to telling the story. And I, for one, am sick of moviemakers who think they're being edgy or adult or sophisticated by sneaking in a couple more F-bombs or naked body parts. It's lazy at best, or at least completely sophomoric. Write better stories that are worth filming and people will pay to watch them. And if you're interested in reaching the widest audience possible, it makes artistic and financial sense to not eliminate half the paying audience in the first place by crossing lines just for the sake of crossing lines. Believe me, there are plenty of popular and powerful movies out there that aren't rated R.
Not to mention that the ratings system is arbitrary and inconsistent anyway, but that's a discussion for another day.
I agree with Mano Guha. Talented people can make great things happen with average equipment. The best equipment in the world in the hands of an idiot will still produce garbage. However, if you're interested in a quality digital recorder, I've used the Zoom H4 (and some of its siblings) and found it very over-rated and not terribly durable for field work. Once you bust off one of the Mickey Mouse ear microphones, you're screwed. I cant recommend enough the Roland R-26. Lots of bang for the buck, and I've used it in the field as well as in the studio. It has excellent built-in mics, but also two XLR inputs, and a touch-screen interface. FYI, my sound guy loves it, too.
Just one of the many reasons why I buy physical media. If you can’t hold it in your hands, you don’t own it.