Using DSLR for video

treeman

treeman

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Firstly ive not really got a clue about videoing, but if wanted to play at using my camera for video work, what would you suggest as basic equipment to give me a fighting chance? I was thinking of some sort of viewing hood and a focusing grip type thing.
 
Depends what type of videos you want to make. Also how high quality you want. Are you going to sell them etc or are they just for personal projects?

Andy S
 
really does depend on what you're doing.

First thing to worry about, first and foremost, is audio. The rode videomic is very well spoken of and sounded good the one time I've used it. For more interview-y things, lapel mics are where it's at...depends what you're doing.

Grab a fluid head for your tripod, or a dedicated video tripod, essential too.
 
These will just be videos for behind the scenes type work on various shoots, sort of fstoppers style., for putting on the blog, but would like to get the quality a sweet as possible without going over board on budget, maybe £500 max.
Some some static camera on tripod and some hand held.
 
To be honest hand held is really difficult to get looking good on a DSLR. I never bother with it as it just produces poor results.

For your intended purpose I would say just the camera on it's own will be fine. That is unless you want to take things further in the future. My brother is more experienced in DSLR video than me and he only has a Canon 550D and lens, no other accessories and produces fantastic quality videos.
I personally find focusing grip/follow focus things very hard to use and just not worth the money. Just go for static shots without zoom. They are the type DSLRs are good at. Zooming shots are best left to dedicated camcorders imo.

I am not really up on sound so I can't help there much. I would say think how important sound is to the finished thing. If not really important I would either put a backing track on or just use the camera's own mic. It's not amazing quality but not that bad either.

Bottom line for me is this - There seems to have developed a whole industry around DSLR video accessories. There are many many things telling that they are essential but I think unless they are for commercial stuff then almost all of them are unnecessary.
 
A tripod with fluid head and a Zacuto Z Finder (or cheap alternative) would be the most important things imo. I just ordered a cheapo alternative, not sure what it's like yet - http://www.digifinder.de

Have a look at cheesycam for some recommendations and cheap suggestions for stabilisation. My friend's blog might be handy too - http://www.diyfilm.co.uk/

My friend likes the Hague DSLR steadycam, or there are fairly cheap shoulder mount rigs out there as well.

Zooming smoothly during filming isn't easy at all with DSLR lens zoom mechanisms, but then it often looks pretty cheesy anyway imo.

I am just getting into all this but imo you can create some stunning looking footage - manual focusing gets a lot easier with practice, even at wide apertures.

http://www.diyfilm.co.uk/
 
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