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By filmmakers, for filmmakers since 2003
cinematography which camear to buy
- Thread starter Nomad
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As everyone on this forum will tell you the camera is not the only thing you need to take into account if you are looking to buy a set up for shooting films. Have you budgeted separately for sound? If not you'll need to expect to spend at least £400 getting a decent sound set up.
With that in mind your best bet probably is the DSLR route. It's not perfect and a lot of people don't like them, but they are really, really good for how much they cost. The Canon 550D is probably the most economical option (certainly a better deal for shooting HD movies than the 7D) and the 5D, with sound taken into account, is likely out of your price range. I've heard mixed things about the 60D but would say that a 550D and external monitor is probably the better combo for that price. Alternatively you might want to wait for the 600D to be released, it looks pretty sweet. I can't say too much about the Panasonic GH2 which is also popular and has real distribution problems in the US, but a lot of people rate that higher than the EOS series.
It's really up to you but I would say £400 for sound, £600 for 550D, £150 for 50mm lens, £150 for external monitor and you have a pretty decent set-up.
With that in mind your best bet probably is the DSLR route. It's not perfect and a lot of people don't like them, but they are really, really good for how much they cost. The Canon 550D is probably the most economical option (certainly a better deal for shooting HD movies than the 7D) and the 5D, with sound taken into account, is likely out of your price range. I've heard mixed things about the 60D but would say that a 550D and external monitor is probably the better combo for that price. Alternatively you might want to wait for the 600D to be released, it looks pretty sweet. I can't say too much about the Panasonic GH2 which is also popular and has real distribution problems in the US, but a lot of people rate that higher than the EOS series.
It's really up to you but I would say £400 for sound, £600 for 550D, £150 for 50mm lens, £150 for external monitor and you have a pretty decent set-up.
Plenty of good advice there, just wanted to add a couple things:
I have the 60D, and for somebody like me who wants a really good video camera and a really good stills camera, it's pretty much perfect!
Now, this is all completely up to you... I got my camera from a seller on Ebay, called DigiGood. They sell imported goods, so the products do not have any kind of warranty. The seller does offer a one years waranty of their own, but its up to you if you want to trust them or not. The savings on offer are huge though. If you wanted to go for the brand new 600D from Jessops it would cost you £750:
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/80182/show.html
If you bought from DigiGood (or one of the many other imported camera sellers), you would recieve the Rebel T3i, which is the exact same camera, only it's the American import. It would cost you £640, saving you £100:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-CANON-EOS...Cameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item19c4051d73
If you look at the 60D, you'll see you can actually save over £200, as I did. I took the risk on the lack of warranty, but the camera arrived and works perfectly, so I'm happy. The way I look at it, I've never returned anything on warranty before, so I'm expecting I wont have to here either!
Not sure which 50mm prime lens Nick is talking about, but mine only cost £80. It's the cheap and chearful lens, not brilliant, but it does the job and lots of people say good things about it:
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/12878/show.html
Just a few options, but it's completely up to you what you choose to do. Good luck!
(i wonder if I should ask for commision on the above links?)
I have the 60D, and for somebody like me who wants a really good video camera and a really good stills camera, it's pretty much perfect!
Now, this is all completely up to you... I got my camera from a seller on Ebay, called DigiGood. They sell imported goods, so the products do not have any kind of warranty. The seller does offer a one years waranty of their own, but its up to you if you want to trust them or not. The savings on offer are huge though. If you wanted to go for the brand new 600D from Jessops it would cost you £750:
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/80182/show.html
If you bought from DigiGood (or one of the many other imported camera sellers), you would recieve the Rebel T3i, which is the exact same camera, only it's the American import. It would cost you £640, saving you £100:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-CANON-EOS...Cameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item19c4051d73
If you look at the 60D, you'll see you can actually save over £200, as I did. I took the risk on the lack of warranty, but the camera arrived and works perfectly, so I'm happy. The way I look at it, I've never returned anything on warranty before, so I'm expecting I wont have to here either!
Not sure which 50mm prime lens Nick is talking about, but mine only cost £80. It's the cheap and chearful lens, not brilliant, but it does the job and lots of people say good things about it:
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/12878/show.html
Just a few options, but it's completely up to you what you choose to do. Good luck!
(i wonder if I should ask for commision on the above links?)