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ChimpPhobiaFilms

For a while now, I have been shooting short narrative films with the Canon T3i. I think it has great image quality, and such, but I would like to get a better camera.

Any ideas?
 
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If you think it has great image quality, why do you want a better camera?

i.e. when you say 'better' are you referring to image quality, ergonomics, features, etc?

What are you hoping to achieve with the 'better' camera that you can't achieve with the T3i? Do you feel that the T3i is holding you back in some way?

Answering these questions will make it a lot easier to make useful recommendations.
 
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Some of the films I make are shot quickly due to actors, deadlines, or time on a location, and most of the time I do not have time to set up lighting equipment. I would like a camera that handles low-light situations better, and had less noise at a higher ISO.

Due to time on a location, actors, and deadlines, I usually shoot quick. Since I shoot quick, I usually do not have time for setting up lighting equipment. Because of the lack of light, I boost the ISO, but the image gets noisy and ugly. I am looking for a camera that handles lowlight situations better.
 
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ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
Due to time on a location, actors, and deadlines, I usually shoot quick. Since I shoot quick, I usually do not have time for setting up lighting equipment. Because of the lack of light, I boost the ISO, but the image gets noisy and ugly. I am looking for a camera that handles lowlight situations better.
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The only cameras that do markedly better in higher ISOs are the 5D MkIII, 1DX and 1 DC, C300 and C500. 5-40 times the cost of a T3i.

Lighting your scene will still produce a way better result, but if your heart is set on running a higher ISO then there's your best bet!

EDIT: I left off some of the RED options. The Dragon sensor cameras seem to do pretty stellar in low light too. Again, relatively expensive. The Sony's and Blackmagic cams, though more latitude, seem to do about as good as the APS-C DSLR's in low light.
 
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I would add Sony's FS100 to the list, it'll definitely outperform the T3i significantly in low light. Still quite a bit more expensive though.

But Jax is right - a new camera's probably not the answer.

What lens(es) are you shooting with now?

Regardless of the camera's performance you'll probably get much better looking images if you can do even minimal lighting. You may want to look into picking up some LED panels that can be run on batteries - once you've got them on stands they can be very quick to move for each new setup.
 
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So how do you feel about the performance you get in low light with the 50/1.8? That should be your go-to lens for low light shooting as it will give you 4-8x the light of the other lenses. If you're shooting with that one and finding you're still having to run your ISO up to objectionable levels then you really do need to get some light on the scene.
 
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I have canon 60D... and Im fine with it and wouldn't need any better unless I want to film big feature film... even for small features 60D is fine... Me loves my baby and don't plant to divorce it :P
 
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What's your budget? I've used the T3i up to ISO1600 for a wedding so I have a frame of reference. For around $1300 you can get a Canon 7D new and I regularly shoot up to 1600ISO with that without people complaining (though I personally get bothered by the noise). It has noticeably better noise handling than the t3i. For $3000 the Canon 5D MkIII is a stunning stills and video camera. For kind of noiseless low light, I would get the Canon C100 for about $5500. It's a dedicated cinema camera so you get a package that's really geared towards shooting motion picture.
 
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