New member and looking for some info

blackthorn

blackthorn

Hey all. I joined a while back and have been doing a lot of reading, little posting so I figured I best ask the number one newbie question.......what camera should I get? I used to do loads of stuff when I was younger till my family's camcorder died and ended up putting all my time and cash into music for some reason and now want to get back to where I left off. I want to learn the ropes and wondering would I be better getting a Canon HV20/30 or for the extra quality something like a t2i? I'm not swimming in cash (as I mentioned, music) but what should I aim for as a beginner? I'm coming to it as someone interested in directing, filming and sfx if that has a baring. (ye never know)

btw, if anyone is looking for music for anything hit me up. Trying to up my portfolio on this too :)

ta!
 
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Though they would be the higher end of my budget really. If you have any suggestions of other cheaper cameras that I could learn on before moving up it would also be good. I've been doing a lot of research but I keep ending up going around in circles at this point.
 
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Hey welcome!

My advice, as a fellow amateur, is that the 550D is possibly not the best camera to learn on, just because DSLRs (however good the video is) are designed as still cameras and so you have to adapt a DSLR orientated style in order to learn to use it. Probably, in the long run, this will not be the best way to learn. That said many people in the industry and using the 5D to shoot impressive films, so it depends the way you want to go.

I've been learning on the 550D and great camera though it is, it's a different beast from video cameras...

Just my thoughts :)
 
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NickClapper said:
just because DSLRs (however good the video is) are designed as still cameras and so you have to adapt a DSLR orientated style in order to learn to use it.
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Yeah, I was thinking that too. If that is the case then I'm not sure where to go with it. I would like to go with something that will allow me to get fully acquainted with different parts of the camera but don't want to go with the lowest price to do so as I don't have money to burn (I am Irish after all :))
 
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A bunch of young filmmakers seem happy with those cams. I've never used one but have seen some great footage shot on them... It's definitely the next cam I'll get. I started a thread on them a while back...
 
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PositiveFuture said:
A bunch of young filmmakers seem happy with those cams. I've never used one but have seen some great footage shot on them... It's definitely the next cam I'll get. I started a thread on them a while back...
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The quality of the footage is great. The point I'm making is that if you're looking for a camera with which to learn about the technical aspects of shooting film, then perhaps this isn't the best option. DSLRs are a very different beast and, fantastic quality though the video is, they are built as stills cameras and handle like stills cameras.

That said the quality is great and I would infinitely recommend going down the DSLR route rather than the low end point and shoot cameras.
 
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NickClapper said:
The quality of the footage is great. The point I'm making is that if you're looking for a camera with which to learn about the technical aspects of shooting film, then perhaps this isn't the best option. DSLRs are a very different beast and, fantastic quality though the video is, they are built as stills cameras and handle like stills cameras.

That said the quality is great and I would infinitely recommend going down the DSLR route rather than the low end point and shoot cameras.
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I disagree - unless you want to spend quite a bit more on a prosumer video camera, there aren't really any relatively cheap cameras that give you that level of control (proper manual exposure, decent manual focusing and interchangeable lenses). They're not the most practical cameras in a lot of circumstances, but I think they're perfect for learning the technical aspects of filmmaking.
 
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