Making Videos

Jaisus

Jaisus

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Jai
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Have tried now on the D3100, D3200 and the D5100 and so far the video quality seems rubbish, now I undersrtand that DSLR will not be as good as a dedicated Video Camera....

Have been looking into making a YouTube channel and would like to get a decent quality Video Camera... What should I be looking for?

I did find a Sony SX21 which did seem ok.. and was only £170... any ideas?

Will be using it for Short clips, short music vids and some candid video action but want it to look good enough to be able to watch on a decent size screen.
 
Please give us a link to your rubbish quality footage from the D3100, D3200 and the D5100. I'm really pleased with the footage from my D3100 and the others can only be better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXudJ5t_cm0&hd=1

Generally an SLR will give better picture quality than a camcorder of similar price. That said, if you want quick easy results you are better off with a camcorder.
 
Jaisus said:
Did they use the D3100 in Black Swan? I did not realise they had used either of those cameras, in that case I will keep the D3100 as my dedicated Video Camera.

Thanks for the heads up on that one, I could have ended up wasting money by buying a dedicated HD Vid cam for my travels around Jamaica next week.
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Just to clarify: you said, "I understand DSLR won't be as good for quality"...I'm just stating they are :)

And they used a canon 5Dmk2 but with good lighting you would tell a huge difference between the two.

I only use DSLR for shots agree the camera doesn't move for anything else its a video camera.
 
I do understand what you are saying and to be fair perhaps I just need a little more practice with my Camera because it just seem's to be crap when it comes to focus when in video mode. I did look at the other posters link of a clip which was made with the D3100 and I was actually impressed and did think maybe I should give it another go before throwing in the Towel.

I have no doubt that SOME dslrs probably are just as good quality wise but does the D3100 fall into that bracket?
 
Jaisus said:
I do understand what you are saying and to be fair perhaps I just need a little more practice with my Camera because it just seem's to be crap when it comes to focus when in video mode. I did look at the other posters link of a clip which was made with the D3100 and I was actually impressed and did think maybe I should give it another go before throwing in the Towel.

I have no doubt that SOME dslrs probably are just as good quality wise but does the D3100 fall into that bracket?
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Being manual focus, it is down to you, so in that regard, it's only as crap, or as good as the operator I'm afraid. If you want continuous auto-focus, then buy a dedicated video camera. But for comparable prices, you are likely going to have to forfeit quality in other areas.
 
This is the reason I won't use DSLR if I can for moving shots. The effort to follow focus (keep manually adjustijg your focus as the subject moves) is too much and if you only get one take on something, its likely to be messed up.

DSLR can provide great quality and effects but for a single operator they aren't the best choice when it comes to moving about.
 
Even with a dedicated video camera, you're not going to get great results leaving it to auto focus, you'll find it hunting all over the place, best to have everything on manual.
 
Depends on what size you're looking for but I found the video on the Sony HX9V and HX20 as good as many DSLRs.

They're compact cameras but look amazing on big screens.

The only DSLR I've found with half decent AF for video is the Panasonic GH2. That's pretty good but still a long way from being usable in many situations.
 
I shoot a lot of video while on photography jobs - here's how I see it:

DSLRs capture great quality footage and can, when equipped with the right microphone option, produce great audio also. Of course, the main pitfalls of DSLRs is their inability to autofocus under ALL lighting conditions with true accuracy and focussing speed that won't ruin the actual footage*. But, as a dual-purpose option they do perform very well and will continue to increase in what they offer the videographer.

A standalone video camera is designed for a purpose and as you go up the price scale, then you obviously benefit from increases in AF performance, features such as built-in ND filters, plus features like audio monitoring and on-screen 'blinkies' that will inevitably help create better videos, features that aren't (as far as I'm aware) feature on the majority of consumer-grade DSLRs. But, and here's the rub, it won't produce stills in any way to equal a DSLR, even a low-end one.

Put aside differences in sensor size (and therefore DoF) and how good those sensors are at various ISOs, and the argument for DSLRs become more compelling.

Personally, manually focussing isn't hard, although there are limitations to how quickly you can shift focus when doing it by hand. I shoot angling videos for the web and I've not really found enough cons against the DSLR to move to a fully-fledged video camera, especially it involves carrying two pieces of equipment when I'm required to shoot stills and video on the same job.

*SLTs and mirror less cameras are something I don't know well but there are reports that some display superior AF in live view to DSLRs
 
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If you want DSLR video with good (PDAF) AF, then there always a Sony SLT.
 
I have an Everio. It's an old one that had a 30GB hard drive. Was a nice little unit - light, small and well made. Mine wasn't much more than point and shoot with no features for customising it, but modern ones are probably miles more advanced, such is the way technology moves :)
 
I used to have one. They have good quality and the touch screen focus is very handy.

You will find it as good quality in good lighting. af Is better and the optical zooms are usually very good.

Things that won't match up is ISO and dynamic range. If you can handle that then you'll be more than satisfied :)
 
I had a look round internet and found a few videos on youtube made by the Everio and it looked the sort of thing I was after, good enough quality and it had a few nice little functions like the time-lapse function and an extreme close'up mode.
Bought two 64GB memory cards for it too so planning on grabbing plenty of footage in Jamaica next week.
 
I come from a video/film background, having worked as a video camera operator for several years, working in the UK and abroad. This year I started using the DSLR for some video work and was impressed with quality of the footage produced. The whole area of focus is a tricky one, I would argue that being able to manually focus is better, some shots can only really be done the old fashioned way. On the other hand auto focus is great for particular subject matter, such as sport or fast action, where by having the camera focus for you makes life a little easier. There are good and bad points to both, but if you want to be a good video/film maker or camera operator you need to be able use both...
 
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