New to dslr video

I bought my 70D with the primary aim of taking photos, but specifically chose it because I thought it would handle videos reasonably well. I'm trying to get an idea of which things I really need and which I don't. It wouldn't be anything special other than family/friends' events.

Things I think I need:
- external mic - I guess the built in one isn't as good as a directional microphone
- some sort of shoulder support - because it's unsteady (and probably) tiring to handhold a camera and try and video for more than a few mins
- some sort of suitable tripod - the only tripod I have is a dinky manfrotto one. Is there a good tripod base I could use for both video and photos with maybe interchangeabe heads?
- maybe some external lighting - for dim/indoor areas

Is there anything else I should be considering? Any websites to look at?

The BBC College of Production website has a load of videos on shooting for the edit, recording good sound, framing etc.

Lightworks have a full set of Instructional videos and a free Webinar on how their edit suite works - plus there's a free version.

Sounds like you're pretty much there in terms of what you need, I think an external mic is a necessity for half decent audio (which plays a big part in the feel/quality of a video), I'm mostly shooting B-roll clips at the moment so audio not a big issue, but just picked up a RODE Videomic Go - can't comment personally on it yet but it's well reviewed.

You might want to get a ND filter or two for your lenses to maintain sane shutter speed in sunlight. I bought a few dirt cheap variable NDs, but I'm wondering if it's affecting sharpness and colour cast, I think I may need to buy a couple of plain ND filters of better quality further down the line.

I largely use mine with a loupe attached to the rear screen, with my eye pressed on that and hands supporting the camera + lens, and I find that quite steady. I did buy the Polaroid shoulder rig from amazon, haven't used it a great deal as you can easily feel like a spanner swooping around with a shoulder rig on, especially if you're just filming the dog playing over the park However it does seem flexible and pretty well made, you just have to tighten those screws up well. I shoot with a 35mm IS lens largely, which I find much steadier than my non-IS 50mm 1.8 - if you have a decent IS lens you may find you get good enough footage handheld.

I use an old Redsnapper tripod + head I already had, took it apart and greased the plastic bushes in it very well, it smoothed the motion enough to get by for now, and I shoot with a 550D so don't need anything too sturdy - a proper video head would be nice though!

RE: Lighting, the little LED Hot-shoe boards look good, cheap and seem effective enough - haven't got one yet as I'm still kind of starting out myself.

Some links I emailed myself a while ago, didn't fully check out the sites but browsed around and they must've looked interesting for me to save them

http://nofilmschool.com
http://www.cinema5d.com/
http://noamkroll.com
http://dslrvideoshooter.com/

Jimwah said:

You might want to get a ND filter or two for your lenses to maintain sane shutter speed in sunlight. I bought a few dirt cheap variable NDs, but I'm wondering if it's affecting sharpness and colour cast, I think I may need to buy a couple of plain ND filters of better quality further down the line.

Click to expand...

Shutter speeds are usually relatively fixed in video at half the framerate.

Change it and you either get strobing or motion blur.

Indeed, hence the ND - you gonna want to shoot 1/50 for 1080p 24fps so if you want to shoot at low f-stops in daylight you need to be able to cut the light right down!

Although a proper video tripod is the best you can get away with a photo tripod and fit a fluid video head such as a Manfrotto Xpro2way head I think its called. You can also then use this on a slider should you want to go down that route.