Which Canon?

JoeBloom

JoeBloom

Hoping those with better, more extensive knowledge can help on this subject that although has been massively debated I'm struggling to find a definitive answer.
I'll be looking to get myself a DSLR very soon, and I've narrowed it down to Canon 550d, 600d, or 650d. All of which have excellent video capabilities (its main use for me of course), however other than price and a swivel/pull out viewfinder on the 650d it is difficult to identify what might be best for me. The price isn't such a huge issue between these as they are all fairly close, unless of course saving a few bucks on a cheaper camera makes sense and doesn't remove any important features from me/the kit.
Please share your thoughts, my best thought right now is that since the 650d is a pretty fresh camera at the moment, it might in the long run have a better lifespan in terms of usability for me as I progress as a filmmaker?
Any help appreciated!
Joe.
 
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Assuming the 5D is out of your price range, you really can't go wrong with any of the other Canons mentioned. As long as you understand the quirks and limitations of DSLRs in general, they are a great way to get a true cinematic tool into your hands for cheap.
 
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Fiveacre Films said:
Assuming the 5D is out of your price range, you really can't go wrong with any of the other Canons mentioned. As long as you understand the quirks and limitations of DSLRs in general, they are a great way to get a true cinematic tool into your hands for cheap.
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A thousand times, this.

And as I've said many times in the past, it's the lenses that are going to make the biggest difference in image quality, not the camera body. If you're just starting out, going with a cheaper camera + expensive glass is far better than using an expensive camera + cheap lenses.
 
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Thank you everyone for your help on this subject. I'm likely to go for the 600D/T3i listening to everyones comments, the price, and the features that you get, it seems that most in this range are only minuscule in their differences and that its the filmmaker not the camera which will limit/hinder a project, at least within this kind of price range for a camera!

As per peoples advice and some discussions with a filmmaker friend it seems as if I will do fine with a 50mm MKII until I have the specific need for a bigger lens. Thanks again.
 
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You might find 50mm a bit confining for various different shots. Look into getting a wide-angle in the neighborhood of 18mm as well. If you're not shooting in low-light conditions, the kit 18-55mm lens should work very well for you. (An 18mm prime would be better, but good ones are pricey.)
 
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I don't know if it has been said but the T4i is lacking on Magic Lantern until it gets a firmware up date to work with. The T3i is a good choice. I would have bought that but went with the T4i (same price on T-day) just for the resale value. I am willing to wait for the ML.
 
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escher said:
You might find 50mm a bit confining for various different shots. Look into getting a wide-angle in the neighborhood of 18mm as well.
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Yeah thats true. There is bit blocking with 50mm. 18-55mm would be OK for general purpose usage. Besides that, the 50mm would be good for fulfilling the artistic desires :)
 
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escher said:
You might find 50mm a bit confining for various different shots. Look into getting a wide-angle in the neighborhood of 18mm as well. If you're not shooting in low-light conditions, the kit 18-55mm lens should work very well for you. (An 18mm prime would be better, but good ones are pricey.)
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riz said:
Yeah thats true. There is bit blocking with 50mm. 18-55mm would be OK for general purpose usage. Besides that, the 50mm would be good for fulfilling the artistic desires :)
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OK guys then I really need to be sure before I get either body + kit lens or separately to get a different lens to start with. I am a bit confused with lenses in general, any filming I have done I have always tried to refrain from zooms for the frame of my shot, and rather repositioning as needed.

My main requirements will be for both landscapes, and people up close, of course I will want a lens relatively versatile for different situations like handheld recording and quick shooting. I won't be able to afford more than one lens at the start, I want to start with something that I won't be limited by quickly, I wont stretch into anything that specifically requires larger/smaller lens, I just need something usable in a variety of situations.. low light is a possibility.

I was sure earlier I should just go for a 50mm, so now what do you recommend? Appreciate it.
 
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If you need a single lens to cover both landscape and people close-ups, you'll want the 18-55mm if you get a crop-factor camera, or the 24-70mm f2.8 on a full-frame.

The 18-55mm is an f3.5-f.. don't remember, but it's not going to work as well in lower-light situations. I don't know if there's anything that covers that focal range that opens wider than that. (If there is, it will probably be rather expensive.)
 
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escher said:
If you need a single lens to cover both landscape and people close-ups, you'll want the 18-55mm if you get a crop-factor camera, or the 24-70mm f2.8 on a full-frame.

The 18-55mm is an f3.5-f.. don't remember, but it's not going to work as well in lower-light situations. I don't know if there's anything that covers that focal range that opens wider than that. (If there is, it will probably be rather expensive.)
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I'll be getting the T3i, which has a crop factor of 1.6x so I have read. If I am to get the kit it will be this one:
http://www.digitalrev.com/product/canon-eos-600d-with-18/MTExMDY_A

The lens is 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II. I'll listen to what you've said thanks, I think after that lens I would want to look into getting a lens suitable for low light, and one suitable for wide-angle shots as I am a fan of using that style a lot. Recommendations for next lenses? I may be able to stretch to an additional lens to go with the 18-55mm, just wondering which one..
 
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The wider the lens, the harder it's going to be to find one that opens up. Even my fancy Zeiss 18mm prime is f3.5. If I remember correctly, this is because at short focal lengths things like aberration and softness become very prominent around the edges at wide apertures because physics.

I'm a bit of a primes fanatic but I can afford to be -- that's why I took that soul-draining software job. :)

What style of shots do you foresee most often occurring in lower-light situations?

Edit: It occurs to me that since f3.5 is about as wide as you're going to get at 18mm, you might want to get a good low-light 50mm prime to balance out the other end. The "nifty 50", Canon's 50mm f1.8 is extremely cheap but manages to deliver very solid images. It's the most cost-effective lens you'll ever find. Be warned that it is very flimsy and has the worst manual-focusing ring ever. The next step up, the Canon 50mm f1.4 is astounding, delivering images that rival the professional L-series lenses. I've never used the Canon 50mm f1.2. My current one is the Zeiss 50mm f1.4. It's images are just a smidge under the quality of the Canon 50mm f1.4, just barely, but has that beautiful Zeiss smooth-as-butter manual focus ring that makes it so handy for video. Be aware that the Zeiss lenses are manual-focus-only.

Edit #2: If you reaaally need low-light capabilities and don't mind losing some wide-angle, the Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L is a fantastic lens. The only downside is that it doesn't have image-stabilization -- might be problematic when zoomed all the way in, although I honestly don't know how well DSLR IS works when shooting video.

Edit #3: Be aware that zoom lenses that dip into the wide-angle end of the spectrum show more barrel/pincushion distortion than primes at the same focal length. This isn't that big of a deal for still photography, but can be very noticeable on video if you're panning or tracking.
 
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700D?

The Canon 700D has just been released, as a step up from the 650d which seemed not worth the money, have they corrected their issues with the 650 with this new model?

What are your guys opinons?

Correction: Announced for release later this month. I was going to buy my DSLR next week, should I wait?

Should I consider the 60D? I'm not new to DSLR's, just a bit out of practice really, could I benefit from 60D in the long run as it is considered a 'pro' DSLR?
 
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Guys I'm looking at audio, I've been reading up that some people basically go for recorders and attach them to the top like the Zoom H1 and then I assume sync up AFTER recording? This seems like a lot of unnecessary extra editing work that can be fiddly.. but I have looked at shotgun mic's, it seems to me RODE is a popular choice and this one is a good price:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/RODE-VideoM...icrophone/dp/B0007U9SOC/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header

There is other RODE's that are around £150 give or take like the NT5 and some others.
I would like to have a better mic that I can attach to the camera, but also one (or the same one) that can be moved closer to the sound source if needed in an out of shot way, I will consider clip on mics too which I know can be found both cheap and expensive depending on what kind of quality I want to get and wireless or not.

Help with this also will be appreciated.
 
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JoeBloom said:
The Canon 700D has just been released, as a step up from the 650d which seemed not worth the money, have they corrected their issues with the 650 with this new model?

What are your guys opinons?

Correction: Announced for release later this month. I was going to buy my DSLR next week, should I wait?

Should I consider the 60D? I'm not new to DSLR's, just a bit out of practice really, could I benefit from 60D in the long run as it is considered a 'pro' DSLR?
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nothing worthy of the 700d over the 600d other than touch screen, Personally id get the 600d and get better lenses, because that is whats really going to matter.
 
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JoeBloom said:
Yeah this is what I was starting to think myself. I'm almost certain now I will go with the 600D.

Any opinions on sound/audio setup?
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personally i have a Tascam dr-40, Rode Blimp, Rode NTG-1 and a Rode Boom pole, it serves me just fine for now, but i will be investing in a wireless lav system which i have yet to research into.
 
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JoeBloom said:
Thanks for that. Do you always record your sound directly into the Tascam and sync up afterward?
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yes, i never use onboard camera audio, syncing up is dead easy, what i do is pan the camera audio all the way to the left, the tascam audio all the way to the right, then line them up and play, until i get perfect sound sync, playing both at the same time without panning is alot harder in my opinion, unless your deaf in one ear..
 
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8salacious9 said:
yes, i never use onboard camera audio, syncing up is dead easy, what i do is pan the camera audio all the way to the left, the tascam audio all the way to the right, then line them up and play, until i get perfect sound sync, playing both at the same time without panning is alot harder in my opinion, unless your deaf in one ear..
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Thanks, ah that makes sense, I wasn't even thinking the camera audio would still be going so that you could sync from it d'oh. I've only just began considering audio, I know that default audio on DSLR's is rubbish.

I think I will get the Zoom H1, it's a decent price and will do most of what I want it for, of course I should be able to attach it to the top of the DSLR right? and also put it closer to subjects or sounds that I want as I wanted some portability/moveability too.

Am I right in thinking that I can also 'extend' from the recorder by upgrading to say RODE mic's and plugging those into the digital recorder for even more/better options in the audio department, even lapel mics too?, which may prove useful for me.
 
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The Zoom H1 is pretty bottom-of-the-line stuff. Really, you should be looking for something with XLR inputs, the Zoom H4N and the Tascam DR100mk2 being no-budget favourites. These will allow you to use better quality, balanced microphones, which will give you much better results.

You wont be able to mount the H1 on your camera without some kind of adaption. But the Rode mic you've linked to will work with the H1. You'll want the mic on a boom pole, with an extended cable to the recorder. If you just want to mount them both on your camera, you may as well just get the mic and plug it into the camera; you'll probably get similar results.
 
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