DSLR Or Video Camera?

J

jatin.soni

First, this is my first thread and you may find little weird English :P sorry for that..

I am planning to get new camera as since now was using rubbish DSLR Nikon D5000 camera :P yet been helpful to learn film making.

I am now planning to get at least pro level camera to start to produce professional look friction and documentary film and if get chance than commercial as well. My budget is around USD2000 to USD3000.

I also need some guidance to understand which is the best in DSLR and Video Camera. Of course I want flexibility of settings and different lenses. So I can get look the way I want.
 
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If your budget is that high and your primary use will be for video then get a dedicated video recorder.

From what I understand the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera that is due to come out soon is supposed to be very good and it's even well under your budget.
 
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DDK said:
If your budget is that high and your primary use will be for video then get a dedicated video recorder.

From what I understand the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera that is due to come out soon is supposed to be very good and it's even well under your budget.
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I have gone through black magic camera overview for pocket and 4k pro one and both looks impressive by what they have mentioned. But it is hard to say until actually grab couple of shots. In fact little afraid to buy new brand as this is long time investment for me.

You are right I am looking and want to concentrate only on video and not on photo shoot so video camera is my choice. Correct!

Can you or anyone give me some idea about which model and brand can work out for my use, also please consider some lenses and accessories within the budget.

I am also ready to go with Black Magic if it is really reliable, worth and give some great artistic result and what do you think about lenses and other accessories cost would be?
 
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I would get GH2 or GH3 and spend the rest of the money for good lenses,audio,lighting and gear overall .

You could get great video recorder but without proper lighting or audio equipment it's just gonna look average ,when with DSLR and nice additional gear which don't need to be super expensive you can create incredible image .

But hey, its just my opinion.
 
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NickysFX said:
I would get GH2 or GH3 and spend the rest of the money for good lenses,audio,lighting and gear overall .

You could get great video recorder but without proper lighting or audio equipment it's just gonna look average ,when with DSLR and nice additional gear which don't need to be super expensive you can create incredible image .

But hey, its just my opinion.
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I agree with your opinion. Actually I have been making 3d films and stil frames since 10 years and I do believe in lighting and other aspect of getting great frame. But camera features also can't be ignore so I am trying get maximum within my budget.

Do you believe DSLR is the good choice? I only found drawback is no RAW which I love so much as I have so much flexibility to play with footage in post.

My initial target is to make commercial, short friction and full length documentaries. Of course as I am investing some nice amount of money I would like to have something I can use for at lest for next 3-5 years and still it gives the result which can compete the future market.

What's your thought?
 
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DDK said:
If your budget is that high and your primary use will be for video then get a dedicated video recorder.

From what I understand the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera that is due to come out soon is supposed to be very good and it's even well under your budget.
Click to expand...

I have seen couple of review and videos and truly I just impressed with Black Magic camera and eager to test it once.

Just wonder as the cost is only for body and will I be able to get all other required accessories and lenses within my budget?
 
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My thoughts are:

Lenses and lighting will always be much more important than the camera body, so you're better off spending a good amount of coin on those, and getting a lesser camera. Cameras change every 9 months or so, so whilst your camera won't last, lenses will and lighting will always be important.

IMO, I don't think raw or the lack of raw is really that big a deal. A film shot with no lighting on crap lenses is going to look awful, whereas a film shoot with great lenses and nice lighting on a DSLR will still look great.

As an example, I had someone send me some footage they'd just shot on a Blackmagic camera. The footage was pretty average to be completely honest, despite the fact they were shooting raw on a camera that has a DR of 12+ stops. There were clipped whites and blacks, the lighting was poor and it looked like it was shot on a DSLR.
Now, the stuff John Brawley shoots on the Blackmagic looks awesome, but John Brawley is also a professional DP who regularly shoots television shows and commercials.
There's a hell of a lot of great looking stuff shot on a 5D as well. In fact, there are shots in Captain America, which was otherwise shot on 35mm and Alexa, that were shot on a 5D. I challenge you to pick which shots.

Spending all your money on a camera body, especially simply for the fact that it shoots raw, is folly IMO.
 
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jatin.soni said:
I agree with your opinion. Actually I have been making 3d films and stil frames since 10 years and I do believe in lighting and other aspect of getting great frame. But camera features also can't be ignore so I am trying get maximum within my budget.

Do you believe DSLR is the good choice? I only found drawback is no RAW which I love so much as I have so much flexibility to play with footage in post.

My initial target is to make commercial, short friction and full length documentaries. Of course as I am investing some nice amount of money I would like to have something I can use for at lest for next 3-5 years and still it gives the result which can compete the future market.

What's your thought?
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I see what you mean good sir , BUT I don't think you gonna pull of great quality on your footage if you don't have good lighting.

and I DO believe that with GH2 or GH3 or T4i or something similar and good lighting/audio you can achieve absolutely great results.

But if you have great camera but no lighting and no audio and nothing , you're not gonna pull of anything special than the average footage .

If you do want to get RAW footage I would suggest getting the Black Cinema Camera but it cost 3 thousand dollars and again you're left with no money for lighting nor audio which is never good .

With good lighting and a DSLR ( color grading goes a long way ) and you can achieve absolutely fantastic results . But don't forget that sound is one of the most important thing as well .

AND big part is that you NEED to invest in good piece of glass , you can't just run with your kit lens forever because the quality is not good .

I would suggest getting T4i , wide angle ( tokina / sigma ) and something like 35 mm or 50mm 1.8 . Spend everything else on audio and lighting and gear .

What you need to know as well ( again just my opinion ) is that no matter what your story is and if you're making fiction you need to know that costumes and make up and wardrobe overall goes a very very long way so you can spend some money on these things as well . Nobody seems to care about em , but I think those little details are one of the most important things in your story .

I would highly suggest to just go for DSLR .
 
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Sorry about late reply. Since being very busy with some other work. Now I have some time to finalize my kit and probably will buy during my Diwali vacation (Oct-Nov '13).

I completely agree with your opinion. Light and Sound has own importance in the film. Can you and other expert also give me some kit detail? That would be a really great help.

Do you still prefer DSLR and not Black Magic? How about Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicpocketcinemacamera/ or this is also not good to go?
 
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Another thing that never seems to get mentioned are the accessories for the camera that you choose. You have a nice chunk of change to play with, but still, those accessories, if they're even available, depending on the camera, can themselves be quite expensive and add up. So I would remind anyone considering a new camera to scope out the accessories available for the canidate cameras, figure out which you will need or want, and incorporate those into your decision process, as well. Things like memory cards (what does the camera take?), batteries, battery chargers, follow focus accessories perhaps, power grips perhaps --if it's a DSLR, filters (quality filters cost plenty if you're going to need to buy new lenses for your new camera body, and certainly lenses can cost a fortune, etc. All of those things, when added up, can actually take a sizeable bite out of that two or three grand.

I'm pretty ignorant about these things, but I'm under the impression that it takes a buttload of hard drive and computing power to handle and store and process raw. Do you have the editing setup to handle it...and without going crazy? Not to mention good quality external hard drives cost plenty. There are cheap ones, I guess, but the larger, better ones aren't so cheap.

Good luck. Hope you love whichever you choose.
 
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