Camera Selection

JohnBradbury

JohnBradbury

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Hi guys,
Quick question.

What camera would you recommend for Video use (YouTube, vblogging documentary shorts)? I'm not very up on the video scene so any advice would be most welcome.

I'm currently being offered the Canon 700D and the Panasonic GH4 (I'll need two).
 
Don't forget to budget for lighting and separate microphone/audio recording gear.
 
Do you need a DSLR or would a dedicated video camera not be better. Budget ?
 
I would prefer a DSLR to be honest. I have a top budget of £1500 for the camera bodies.
 
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If you are buying foe video, the panasonic GH4 does 4K video, should be best of the two.
 
I remember watching a video where a YouTube channel was testing the results they get from their various cameras and one was the GH4 which they had bought for it's 4k recording.

From memory they said the 4k footage wasn't in the same league as their other 4k camera, but where it came into it's own was YouTube. This was because when you upload 4k footage to YouTube it uploads at a higher bitrate (again from memory). So if your after very good quality without going towards Sony A7s money then it seems the GH4 is a pretty good choice.

I used to use a Canon 600d for video and it was very good as long as using manual focus, so I assume the 700d is also pretty good. I also used a Canon M3 quite recently to make a few YouTube videos and that was very good.

If you're looking for better production value, I think the GH4 would be a better choice.

EDIT - I found the video I was remembering and it's well worth a watch:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NFmpJNvd4k

The up-sampling bit towards the end you may find interesting.
 
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The GH4 will allow you to do something like this which could add extra dimension to your videos.
 
It was just to highlight 4K cropping. Handy for times when you other angle is compromised. Crop in using 4k and cut to the other angle rather than a jump.

Do you have any lenses already?
 
If you're filming regularly I'd recommend using one of the "atomos" range of external video recorders, they can take an uncompressed hdmi or hdsdi feed direct from your cameras sensor and record at upto 220 Mbps. They can record for far longer than the cameras internal time limits.

I use the atomos blade with my Nikon d750 and the results are fantastic.
 
What makes you need a gh4? If you don't know what you need then I doubt you do, not to cause offense, but you'll probably have more than enough with even a gh1, I'd try to explain a bit more what you're looking for and then people will be able to advise a bit more situationally.
 
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