Camera for video. Help!

flyingmonkeycorp

flyingmonkeycorp

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At work we're looking into producing our own short video clips for products, to sit on Youtube and our website. Nothing super fancy, just 20-30 second clips highlighting features and showing products in action. We sell a big variety of stuff and there'll be some studio (well, cupboard) based stuff and some location, both internal and external. So a bit of everything.

We already have some of the kit we need - a selection of lights, tripods, backdrops and reflectors - and I have a fair idea of some of the accessories we'll need / would like (handheld grip, ND filters, slider etc - we'll probably get away without a mic as most clips will be silent with music).

What I *don't* know is what kind of camera we'd be best with. We do have some camera kit but it's ancient and not great, and I have a good selection of Nikon lenses but for the sake of argument let's assume we're starting from scratch. For the kind of quality we're looking for I've narrowed it down to a few options. Budget is ideally under a grand for whatever body / lenses we need.

  1. DSLR with video functionality - which is most of them now I guess? I've been looking at the Nikon D7200 as I know how to use Nikon and have lenses etc, but if Canon or other makes are going to be better than I'm happy to consider them.
  2. Camcorder with fixed lens - I'm not enamoured with this idea to be honest, I think the lack of flexibility would be an issue but would having something designed for video outweigh the disadvantages?
  3. Camcorder with interchangeable lenses - would probably be the best solution, but even the cheapest options (eg Sony VG30) are really out of budget by the time we add a couple of lenses.
  4. Mirrorless Compacy System - I know little about these, but folk seem to rate them (I'm thinking things like the Panasonic G7 / GH3 / GH4 or Sony A77II) for video, and they'd have the added bonus (as with a DSLR) of being able to replace our aging stills camera too.
So basically does anyone here have any experience of any of the above, any suggestions or recommendations or indeed anything else we should be looking at? I just seem to be thrashing around in circles googling stuff at the moment!

Thanks in advance :)
 
I have done some pretty good video clips of the family, and I have used a Nikon D3300, pretty good image quality but a little clunky. Using the Nikon D3300, combined with the Nikon 35mm 1.8G. Set on a tripod, and using manual focus, you can get some pretty good effects.

A Camcorder with a good sized sensor might be worth looking at, as they are pretty low priced at the moment, they seem to have fallen out of favour.
 
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You could probably do his with a gopro or xiaomi-yi.
What cameras do you already have? My little Canon S100 does more than adequate video - more reliably than an SLR where a lot of things can go wrong unless you know what you are doing.
The editing and processing for youtube is where things will stand or fail.
 
4wd said:
You could probably do his with a gopro or xiaomi-yi.
What cameras do you already have? My little Canon S100 does more than adequate video - more reliably than an SLR where a lot of things can go wrong unless you know what you are doing.
The editing and processing for youtube is where things will stand or fail.
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Have to agree, video can be tricky with a DSLR. But if you get it right, it can look great.
 
Cheers guys - a Go Pro isn't going to cut it as it's far too wideangle (I already have an SJCAM copy which is brilliant, but not what we're after at all). I've done bits and bobs of video on my D90 and S95 compact both of which are ok but limited - we'd like something a bit more high quality. The editing and processing side is where I'm most comfortable, if a bit rusty - I've done a fair bit in my time.
 
Well if i was starting from Scratch then id have to say GH4 class leader, and kinda the defacto unit a lot of even the pros use.
If i was going to advise on a cheaper unit then the Lumix FZ1000 is near as dammit like the GH4 but a bridge camera, has full image stabs and a nice 400mm f2.8 lens.

Nikon wise, they have never been very good at Video,but your only doing short ones, even my new D500 with 4k is suspect, but a D7200 or even the small J5 if you want portability

Holy Grail wise Sony A7Sii seems to be the current daddy..

good luck
 
Depends on how advanced a video camera you're talking about.

If you've got all day, then a DSLR will manage OK video providing you can deal with the aliasing.

If I need to get a shot, then a decent little camcorder with a focus and aperture ring, peaking and zebras is far easier.
 
My 70d is great for video, and using Magic Latern you a take raw video.
 
After reading more into it (and what you guys have said) I'm starting to think either a GH3/4 (I'd sooner go for the 3 with nicer lenses than the 4 with one cheap lens I think) or an X920 camcorder might be the way forward. Realistically we're not gonna have tons of time so quick and easy is probably preferable...
 
Second vote for the GH4 - it is tried and tested, it has a decent battery as well which is very rare among good video shooting stills cameras.
 
I use a Panasonic FZ200 and DMC-G5. I find them much easier to use than DSLR. No messing about with live view.
 
flyingmonkeycorp said:
Cheers, I'll have a look at those. The Panasonic GX8 looks well worth more investigation too, with supposedly great IS too.
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From CameraLabs review ;) :
"So while the GX8's body-based stabilisation seems to perform a little better than its predecessor for unstabilised lenses, while also providing some benefit when working alongside optical stabilisation, it remains a pale shadow of where Olympus currently stands with this technology. " http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Panasonic_Lumix_GX8/index.shtml
 
Ramalama said:
Just had a look into 4k raw on the 70d, as it's the camera I've got. Apparently you can only record about 6 secs at a time. I guess it's because of the file transfer size.
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Quite possibly. I'm playing with some uncompressed 10-bit 2160p100, the file sizes are impressive.
 
flyingmonkeycorp said:
Cheers guys - a Go Pro isn't going to cut it as it's far too wideangle (I already have an SJCAM copy which is brilliant, but not what we're after at all)..
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You're probably right, however you can set gopro to medium and narrow field of view then they aren't wide angle.
Remote control from the app is another nice feature.
 
Ramalama said:
Just had a look into 4k raw on the 70d, as it's the camera I've got. Apparently you can only record about 6 secs at a time. I guess it's because of the file transfer size.
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As far as I know you can't shoot 4K using a Canon 70D. It can shoot RAW using Magic Lantern, but not 4K. The Canon SD card based DSLRs are limited to very short bursts of RAW 1080p because Canon throttle the SD card speed. The CF cameras are better if you want to experiment with RAW, i.e. 5D, 7D, 50D etc.

If in doubt, check the chart linked in the first post on this page: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=6215.0

I suspect the OP isn't going to want to go this route anyway, hacking the camera and creating huge file sizes is unlikely to work for everyday commercial output - for that sort of thing you want convenience and reliability.
 
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Cheers all, some really helpful info there. After a lot of deliberation and discussion we've gone for a D7200 - it'll mainly get used for stills with a bit of video on the side and I already have a fair bit of kit I can use with it. If it'd been the other way round then the wee mirrorless probably would have been the right choice.
 
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