Should I sell my 60d for a Vixia?

[luket209]

I am a high school student and want to get started in film (documentary mostly)
Right now I do a lot of photography/video on a Sony NEX-5n

I was wondering if I should sell my Canon 60d (50mm, 18-135mm lens) and NEX (16mm) to get a Canon Vixia (either the XA10 or the G20)

I need features like autofocus and better ergonomics as well as better picture quality. Will a Vixia make a huge difference? Thanks.

 

[8salacious9]

just a question, why would you need autofocus? are you having focus problems? try keeping the aperture at f4-f8 and you should find it easier to focus.

but at the end of the day, a dslr isnt made for filmmaking in mind, so if you prefer the vixia range then go for it, just make sure you test it out thoroughly before making the choice because there are alot of pros and cons for each.

 

[RED ROBOT]

No .

It will not make a huge difference unfortunately . I don't see why would you want to go for Vixia when 60D is great camera .

As far as I know you can't use Cinestyle on these kind of cameras so you'll sacrifice some DR . With the 18-135mm I think you can get pretty nice looking depth of field and your 16mm is great for the wide angle shots .

I think you have a great basic kit to start with and upgrading to Vixia is a total nonsense to me .

But eh , it's just my opinion.

 

[brunerww]

Hi luket - For documentaries, reality and run and gun, I completely understand your need for a camera with bulletproof autofocus. If you screw up with manual focus and miss the shot, there are no re-dos. That said, with a small sensor camcorder like the XA10 or the G20, you will give up a lot of your ability to tell stories by controlling focus and depth of field.

If you really need fast autofocus and better picture quality, you can get both from a $1300 Panasonic GH3 - without giving up the large sensor, shallow depth of field "look" you currently enjoy with the 60D and the NEX-5N.

The GH3 has a headphone jack like a camcorder, shoots for hours continuously (again, like a camcorder), shoots a variety of codecs (AVCHD or .mov), as well as multiple frame rates and bit rates (up to 1080/60p at 72mbps).

These frame and bit rate options are not available from the 60D, XA10, or HF G20. The NEX-5N can shoot 1080/60p - but at a maximum bit rate of only 28mbps.

Here is what the GH3 can do:

Documentary: "Mme Sokhna Fall" by Bas de Meijer

Documentary: "French Documentary" (no subtitles) - by Gregory Vasseur

Documentary (please watch at 1080p): Angels at War - Kickstarter Trailer - by Joey Daoud

Music Video: "Sky" by Shae Sterling

Narrative: "Clash" by Tim Manders

Narrative: "The Tide" by Hugo Goudswaard

Narrative: "Genesis" by Bruce Logan, ASC


Hope this is helpful and good luck with your decision!

Bill