Best DSLR to shoot Video £500 - £1000

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Ace_McCloud

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Bobby
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Hi all,

I'm sure this ground has been walked many times before, but your advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm looking to move towards shooting film professionally and would like to invest in equipment that will help me achieve that goal.

I do not have the budget to invest in a Canon D5 MkIII which I understand would be the first choice. I am willing to spend what is necessary but would like to avoid spending more than £1000 to get what I need: Camera, lens, tripod, sound (which I understand is necessary).

With that in mind, I have narrowed my search to around 3 cameras that appear to come recommended, but without influencing you by saying what those are, could you offer me your opinions?

Also any further advice on tripod and sound would also be welcomed (I haven't started investigating this yet).

Final thought: I'd like to avoid false economies and am willing to spend if it is worth it.

Cheers!
 
7D?? 2nd hand one would be around £5-600 so loads left for lens??
 
Shooting the wedding as a photographer or videographer? Is the £1,000 budget just for the SLR or for all the equipment you have listed? Do you have any lenses or equipment already?
 
Thanks Spike: Why would you choose the 7D above other models?

CSB: I don't have any equipment already. The budget would ideally cover all equipment listed although can be stretched (I haven't looked into the other equipment yet). What do you think?
 
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With that budget I would get the following:

  • 60D £465 from HDEW
  • Libec TH650 Tripod £135
  • Rode Video mic £80 or Video mic Pro £140

Which leaves you around £300 for lenses, batteries and memory cards depending on which mic you go for.

The 60D, it has the same video capability as the 7D but has an articulated screen which is helpful and it is cheaper to buy, it also uses SD cards which are cheaper to buy than compact flash which the 7D uses.

Have you done any video work before, because I think you are really going to struggle with that budget. You still need the following for a decent wedding video:

  • Lenses
  • Wireless mics
  • Lights
  • Camera rig/stabiliser
  • BACKUPS!


No lens included yet, that really depends on the location and what the light is like in there. You might get away with a cheap prime like the 50mm f1.8 but you will need other lenses also. If the light is very good you could up the ISO and use the 18-135 IS lens which is a good versatile lens but only if the light is good!

Also you are only going to get mediocre sound with the mic on the camera but your budget wont stretch to a set of decent radio mics.

I wouldn't shoot a wedding on my own, you will want a second camera man so you have something to cut to in the edit. Which brings me onto computer and video editing software, do you have any?
 
I am a big fan of the Nikon D7100. Body only would come in just under £1k
 
For video, the Panasonic GH2 is by a long shot the best quality "DSLR" you can but at anywhere near your price.

Doesn't get much of a mention around these parts, but look elsewhere and you will find that it is coming in a close second or third when blind tested by pro filmmakers against cameras costing up to £10,000!

Ace_McCloud said:
I do not have the budget to invest in a Canon D5 MkIII which I understand would be the first choice.
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A choice, but by no means the first choice!

Ace_McCloud said:
I am willing to spend what is necessary but would like to avoid spending more than £1000 to get what I need: Camera, lens, tripod, sound (which I understand is necessary).
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I don't think you will achieve all of that for £1k, but you could pick up a GH2 (if you can find one that is) and something like a voigtlander nokton 25mm f0.95 (a stunning combination, which is serving me well). You could then look at getting a used fluid head and tripod (you don't need anything too heavy duty with a GH2).

You'll find that the GH2's EVF does a pretty good job, so can save you having to she'll out straight away for an LCD monitor or viewfinder. For sound, look at a Rode VideoMic, VideoMic Pro, or go external with something like a Zoom or Tascam pocket recorder.
 
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Thanks for the advice everybody.

I think I'm going to follow CSB's advice. After relaying some of this on to a friend who works in the industry, he says he tends to only use those equipped with similar equipment.

Thanks for the advice on the tripod.

I think I'll plump from an external zoom mic.

Thanks for the further advice CSB. I think that will all suffice for where I'm at, which is to aim to learn the equipment so that I can offer my services as a second cameraman.

Thanks again.
 
if you shooting outside you need a dead cat on the mic, I got a couple off ebay fairly cheap, uk made make a huge difference.
there's a frugal film maker / photographer channel on youtube, watch that
 
I'll throw in an interesting alternative - Canon 100D
It's pretty much the only dSLR with video AF, and proper selection of IS lenses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YdkhM_7hwc

My 5DIII can't do the above :(

I don't know much else about it but I can't imagine it would be too bad.
 
look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZq0eijP1Sw

Sony A57 looks certainly great for video. Not sure they have IS lenses though

crofter said:
The Canon 650D and 700D have auto focus and a dedicated video switch, should be some good deals on the 650D at the moment and not much separates it from the 700D
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they do, but it looks like MF is way better than that. I just looked up some youtube reviews - not good.
 
daugirdas said:
look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZq0eijP1Sw

Sony A57 looks certainly great for video. Not sure they have IS lenses though



they do, but it looks like MF is way better than that. I just looked up some youtube reviews - not good.
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I agree, I tend to use manual even though it has AF, it could come in useful if I'm lazy but the lens sound gets recorded so you need other audio recording equipment as well.
 
For any type or professional video work you really shouldn't be using autofocus and the autofocus functions for video on even the latest Canon DSLRs is next to useless. It's just a sales gimmick I'm afraid.
 
CSB said:
For any type or professional video work you really shouldn't be using autofocus and the autofocus functions for video on even the latest Canon DSLRs is next to useless. It's just a sales gimmick I'm afraid.
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I think that's a big statement to make. Football, running?! Sometimes decent AF would be very nice. Canon are quite far behind some other makes at the moment in this game; as I mentioned 100D is the only half decent choice. Everything else canon LV AF is a gimmick, but video AF is not a gimmick. I hope that makes sense
 
daugirdas said:
I think that's a big statement to make. Football, running?! Sometimes decent AF would be very nice. Canon are quite far behind some other makes at the moment in this game; as I mentioned 100D is the only half decent choice. Everything else canon LV AF is a gimmick, but video AF is not a gimmick. I hope that makes sense
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Not really - go watch the cameramen at a football match - they'll be using manual focus, shutter, aperture and white balance. AF is not used.

For clarity, aperture and WB are manual but controlled by an operator in the broadcast truck.
 
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daugirdas said:
I think that's a big statement to make. Football, running?! Sometimes decent AF would be very nice. Canon are quite far behind some other makes at the moment in this game; as I mentioned 100D is the only half decent choice. Everything else canon LV AF is a gimmick, but video AF is not a gimmick. I hope that makes sense
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I understand what you are saying and yes sometimes autofocus is used in sport but only in certain applications and usually with professional cameras that have more advanced autofocus functions. But here we are talking about DSLRs and NOBODY should be using them with autofocus, manual all the way!
 
I know this is an old thread but the Canon 70d has, from what I've seen, the best video AF of any DSLR.
 
daugirdas said:
I think that's a big statement to make. Football, running?! Sometimes decent AF would be very nice. Canon are quite far behind some other makes at the moment in this game; as I mentioned 100D is the only half decent choice. Everything else canon LV AF is a gimmick, but video AF is not a gimmick. I hope that makes sense
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AF os getting better, but it's stil bad enough to be a gimmick.
 
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GH3 is excellent, compact and for a limited time, you can claim a free £429 lens from panasonic
 
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