Beginner DSLR Video Recording Equipment Help

IanC

IanC

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Ian
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Hi All,

A department at the company I work for needs to buy a videocamera, memory card, tripod and 21" HD monitor or TV to be used to film a process in manufacturing, for training purposes.

The camera needs to be able to record smoke on a white back ground with people in the shot as well. We will then need to be able to play back the video on the monitor either by a HDMI cable from camera to monitor or an SD card slot on the monitor, or any other way of playing it back?

The tripod needs to be about 1.7 or 1.8m high and we have a budget of £50 for this. Budget for the TV/Monitor is £200. Budget for the camera would be £600.

Would it best to go for a DSLR with HD video capabilities?

Any reccomendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ian
 
No opinions or help available on this anyone?
 
IanC said:
Hi All,

A department at the company I work for needs to buy a videocamera, memory card, tripod and 21" HD monitor or TV to be used to film a process in manufacturing, for training purposes.

The camera needs to be able to record smoke on a white back ground with people in the shot as well. We will then need to be able to play back the video on the monitor either by a HDMI cable from camera to monitor or an SD card slot on the monitor, or any other way of playing it back?

The tripod needs to be about 1.7 or 1.8m high and we have a budget of £50 for this. Budget for the TV/Monitor is £200. Budget for the camera would be £600.

Would it best to go for a DSLR with HD video capabilities?

Any reccomendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ian
Click to expand...
What hd quality are you after and what fps are you looking to film with, 1080, 720, 4k, 60fps, 25 gps etc etc. Also depends on budget. You could pick up a Canon 600d for pennies now that's good for video and even beter running the magic lantern firmware. If you have a couple grand you could get a Canon 5d mkiii that's also great for video with magic lantern. Now if you have deep deep pockets you could get a Canon 1d that's capable of 1080p at 60fps.

It all depends on tour budget. If it's only for training I'd suggest a 600d, nice and cheap and good for video with 1080p at 24 or 25 fps.

Either way go for canon. Magic lantern is a software hack for canon cameras and it allows for raw video recording. Have a look at magic lantern forum as well.
 
Just read your whole post. You could get a 600d for less than your budget which would allow more money for your other needs.
 
Thanks for your replies Paul, I was looking at a Nikon D5300, which falls just under budget.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-D5300-Digital-Camera-18-55mm/dp/B00FYJ5N1I

This looks like it gets up to 50 fps? Would you say a DSLR is definitely the way to go instead of going for a dedicated camcorder? I think with my budget I wouldn't really get a decent camcorder compared to what I can get out of a DSLR?

Are Canon better for video than Nikon?
 
I hold the view of a video camera for videoing but I don't know what a £600 video camera is like. It should be pretty decent as all the major manufacturers do consumer video camera for £150 plus.

Are Canon better for video than Nikon? - Out of the 2 I'd probably go with Sony :) Reason being the mirror is different to a 'normal' dslr so auto focuses while shooting.

http://improvephotography.com/2420/sony-dslr-review-can-sony-compete-with-nikon-and-canon/
 
Thanks, what Sony would you reccomend for no more than £600?
 
IanC said:
Thanks for your replies Paul, I was looking at a Nikon D5300, which falls just under budget.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-D5300-Digital-Camera-18-55mm/dp/B00FYJ5N1I

This looks like it gets up to 50 fps? Would you say a DSLR is definitely the way to go instead of going for a dedicated camcorder? I think with my budget I wouldn't really get a decent camcorder compared to what I can get out of a DSLR?

Are Canon better for video than Nikon?
Click to expand...

It will be able to get 50fps, but that will only be 720p. In my opinion for your budget I would stick to a DSLR, and yes, for video I would choose Canon because of the availability to run the Magic Lantern firmware which gives the Canon DSLR's a lot of neat video features.

Here's some features Magic Lantern on a Canon 600D will give you over a standard Nikon for video.


Check out their forum as well and go to the video section. A lot of nice samples.
 
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If the only thing your company wants this for is one single video (which by the sounds of it they don't even plan to edit), have they considered hiring?

The video footage you get out of DSLRs these days is pretty good, but £600 for a body and lens will not give you "broadcast quality" images, if that's what you're after. And at any rate, it sounds like quite a lot to spend just for one shoot. You could just hire a really decent SLR for a day or two, rather than spending all your budget on buying something at the lower end of the range that sounds like it won't get used again.

The beauty of using an SLR to shoot video is whoever the camera op will be will not need very much experience to make it work, so you're definitely right to go down that route. If you hire a broadcast camera for example, then you will need to know a bit about how to use it. I don't know much about what's out there in terms of dedicated camcorders aimed at the domestic market. I've never had to use one.

I recently had a play with a Nikon D810. The video footage was far, far superior to my D7000 (which I would have thought would be superior to what comes out of the D5200). You might be better to hire something like that, rather than buy the D5200.

As for what you're shooting, bear in mind that however good the camera is, if the lighting is crap then the images will be too. If you really want to give the footage a bit of "zing" consider spending some of your budget on hiring a cheap lighting kit, depending how important this video is of course.
 
Thanks for your reply. The requirement to take these kinds of videos will be an ongoing thing so unfortunately rental of equipment is not an available option to us.

We just want to be able to play the video on the monitor easily. It doesn't have to be broadcast on anything bigger than the monitor.

Does anyone know if the D5300 will continually focus whilst in video mode? To be honest though, because we want the whole frame to be in focus, continual focus might not be an issue.

Halfcharged said:
If the only thing your company wants this for is one single video (which by the sounds of it they don't even plan to edit), have they considered hiring?

The video footage you get out of DSLRs these days is pretty good, but £600 for a body and lens will not give you "broadcast quality" images, if that's what you're after. And at any rate, it sounds like quite a lot to spend just for one shoot. You could just hire a really decent SLR for a day or two, rather than spending all your budget on buying something at the lower end of the range that sounds like it won't get used again.

The beauty of using an SLR to shoot video is whoever the camera op will be will not need very much experience to make it work, so you're definitely right to go down that route. If you hire a broadcast camera for example, then you will need to know a bit about how to use it. I don't know much about what's out there in terms of dedicated camcorders aimed at the domestic market. I've never had to use one.

I recently had a play with a Nikon D810. The video footage was far, far superior to my D7000 (which I would have thought would be superior to what comes out of the D5200). You might be better to hire something like that, rather than buy the D5200.

As for what you're shooting, bear in mind that however good the camera is, if the lighting is crap then the images will be too. If you really want to give the footage a bit of "zing" consider spending some of your budget on hiring a cheap lighting kit, depending how important this video is of course.
Click to expand...
 
IanC said:
Thanks for your reply. The requirement to take these kinds of videos will be an ongoing thing so unfortunately rental of equipment is not an available option to us.

We just want to be able to play the video on the monitor easily. It doesn't have to be broadcast on anything bigger than the monitor.

Does anyone know if the D5300 will continually focus whilst in video mode? To be honest though, because we want the whole frame to be in focus, continual focus might not be an issue.
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Ah I see. Maybe that is a good option after all.

Well I know for a fact that one of its predecessors, the 5100, DIDN'T support autofocus in video mode. Someone else could tell you better about the current model though I'm sure. Failing that, just go into Curry's and wave one of the demo ones round a bit and see what happens - not very scientific but it should tell you what you need to know.

If you only intend to take static shots, you could quite honestly buy any old tripod to stick a camera as small as the 5300 on. My "travelling tripod" is this:

http://www.manfrotto.co.uk/photo-supports-tripods-compact-series-new

It cost about £40 in Gatwick Airport. It's a bit crummy if you want to do any kind of move on it for video (I use an old Velbon tripod if I'm shooting video where I want nice steady moves), but if all your shots are static then it'll be fine. It packs away nice and small. Ultimately though, if you're not putting too much weight on it and you don't want to do anything fancy then anything you can pick up for 50 quid will most probably be fine.
 
Thank you for this.

Halfcharged said:
Ah I see. Maybe that is a good option after all.

Well I know for a fact that one of its predecessors, the 5100, DIDN'T support autofocus in video mode. Someone else could tell you better about the current model though I'm sure. Failing that, just go into Curry's and wave one of the demo ones round a bit and see what happens - not very scientific but it should tell you what you need to know.

If you only intend to take static shots, you could quite honestly buy any old tripod to stick a camera as small as the 5300 on. My "travelling tripod" is this:

http://www.manfrotto.co.uk/photo-supports-tripods-compact-series-new

It cost about £40 in Gatwick Airport. It's a bit crummy if you want to do any kind of move on it for video (I use an old Velbon tripod if I'm shooting video where I want nice steady moves), but if all your shots are static then it'll be fine. It packs away nice and small. Ultimately though, if you're not putting too much weight on it and you don't want to do anything fancy then anything you can pick up for 50 quid will most probably be fine.
Click to expand...
 
IanC said:
Would we be better off with the 600d or 5300 instead of the below handycam?

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/camera...hd-camcorder-black-21998099-pdt.html#longDesc

I am also looking for a monitor which will be able to connect to the camera in some way or take an SD card so that we can play the videos on the monitor for training purposes. If anyone has any suggestions for this then it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
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For monitors, you can choose anything from the TV section in any electrical store. The 5300 has an HDMI output, so you can plug it straight into the HDMI in (although you will need an adaptor for the camera end (since it uses one of the smaller connectors) like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New...233?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item23336b2139

By the way, the video you're shooting - will it be a single segment?

The D7100 has a time limit of 20 minutes on a single video clip, the D810 30 minutes. I believe this is something to do with the battery getting hot otherwise. While I can't confirm, I imagine the 5300 will have a similar limit. The handycam should only be limited by the length of the battery or storage. If your demonstration is very long, you might want to consider this.
 
Thank you, not sure on the length of time so will have to ask that question.

We know that the handycam works because it is being used for a similar project at the moment, but I just wanted to know if there was anything better available for our budget.

Many thanks for your help.

Halfcharged said:
For monitors, you can choose anything from the TV section in any electrical store. The 5300 has an HDMI output, so you can plug it straight into the HDMI in (although you will need an adaptor for the camera end (since it uses one of the smaller connectors) like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New...233?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item23336b2139

By the way, the video you're shooting - will it be a single segment?

The D7100 has a time limit of 20 minutes on a single video clip, the D810 30 minutes. I believe this is something to do with the battery getting hot otherwise. While I can't confirm, I imagine the 5300 will have a similar limit. The handycam should only be limited by the length of the battery or storage. If your demonstration is very long, you might want to consider this.
Click to expand...
 
If all you're doing is playing it back on the monitor I wouldn't worry about 50-60fps at 1080p. 720 will be good enough(y)
 
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