Photography/Videography guys, need your input

J

jaredistheman

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Feb 16, 2010
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Memphis, Tn
So i'm wanting an hd video camera. I've watched a lot of the devil wears prada's video updates and i really like the style those videos have. Very high quality with extreme depth of field. And i searched around and found out their guitarist uses a canon t2i dslr.

Now this camera is a little out of my price range. What other camera's can produce this style and quality of video at a lower price? (assuming there is some)

Thanks!
 
The Canon T2i is pretty much the bottom of the barrel, as far as quality and price goes, they don't really get much cheaper, only much, much more expensive.
 
I own a 2ti as well. Just know that it is a DSLR camera and not a camcorder, so to speak. It shoots video, but it doesn't auto focus while recording. You set the focus on the subject prior to recording and if you need to adjust focus, it has to be manual during recording. That said, the stationary focus allows some pro looking results and effects.
 
guitarguru777 said:
ummmmm .... any PRO Vid cam works the same way ...lol No such thing as AUTO FOCUS in the movie making biz ...lol
Click to expand...

I don't know what "pro" level cams you've used, but they certainly do have autofocus. Sony XVR, the Canon XL series, etc they all have autofocus. DSLRs with video do have AF, you just can't use it while recording, it's a limitation of using a DSLR with video.
 
know this:

the 550D uses a crop frame sensor... the 5d mk2 uses a full frame sensor. (there is a big difference between the two in terms of field view).

you can do more research regarding the two comparisons (there is a lot of literature out there).

if you are looking for a camera that will always out-perform the consumer models (like the eos 550) then the 5d mk2 with be a much more valuable purchase.


i believe that tdwp promos were shot on a 5d mk2...

my gf bought me a hot rodded 5d mk2 for my b-day about 6 months ago. we also have the 550D... and the difference is night/day.

it is a bit more to go with the 5d but i can assure you that any eos enthusiast will tell you that it is worth the expense.
 
arv_foh said:
I don't know what "pro" level cams you've used, but they certainly do have autofocus. Sony XVR, the Canon XL series, etc they all have autofocus. DSLRs with video do have AF, you just can't use it while recording, it's a limitation of using a DSLR with video.
Click to expand...


the panasonic RED-ONE is a widely used Professional HD camera... which has no autofocus capabilities.

the sony/canon pro-sumer cameras use crop sensors and are not really considered to be all that professional.

most professional cameras do not use autofocus because that "feature" is unpredictable... as is auto white balance.

a lot of these functions are based on the mechanics/firmware of the camera.

it just does not benefit a $50/$100k hd broadcast/motion picture camera to contain a bunch of bells and whistles.

most professional cameras are extremely simple.
 
timislegend said:
the panasonic RED-ONE is a widely used Professional HD camera... which has no autofocus capabilities.

the sony/canon pro-sumer cameras use crop sensors and are not really considered to be all that professional.

most professional cameras do not use autofocus because that "feature" is unpredictable... as is auto white balance.

a lot of these functions are based on the mechanics/firmware of the camera.

it just does not benefit a $50/$100k hd broadcast/motion picture camera to contain a bunch of bells and whistles.

most professional cameras are extremely simple.
Click to expand...

DEEZ EZZ TROOF!
 
Panasonic has nothing to do with the Red One. The Red ONE is a significantly more expensive digital movie camera, with significantly more expensive lenses than what Canon produces.

The t2i, 60d and 7d are INCREDIBLE video cameras for the money (as well as incredible still cameras). The thought of an interchangeable lens, FULL FRAME, 1080p, video camera with REAL control over depth of field was completely unheard of 2 years ago at any price. Now, you can get all of these features for under $1000 (minus the full frame), or about $2300 with the full frame if you go with the 5dII. If you want really amazing video quality, and can deal with the lack of autofocus and in-body image stabilization, you will get INCREDIBLE video out of a t2i. Do a youtube or vimeo search for any of these cameras, and you'll see some UNBELIEVABLE stuff. To say they aren't professional is a little naive. Yeah - the body might have lots of plastic, and no weather sealing on the t2i, but the results speak for themselves. These cameras deliver where it counts.

If you want to spend less, you CAN get something useable, but you won't be able to get shots with any depth of field from a standard camcorder - it just aint gonna happen on a sensor that's the size of a pencil eraser. If the shallow depth of field look is the look you want, you really have no choice but to go with one of the current crop of DSLR's. Pick up a t2i and a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens for about $1000 total, and you'll be able to shoot videos that rival stuff that you see on the big screen if you know what you're doing.

Bobby
 
FWIW, 20 years ago when I was taking media in college, Hi8 cameras were the big "wow" technology. Not quite "broadcast quality" but certainly better than the big shoulder rig/porta pak monstrosities the students from the year before had to use.

These days, the Hi8 is pretty laughable.

No doubt the 5d is an outstanding piece of gear (and I'd buy one if I had a couple of extra grand lying around) , but the T2i is mindblowing compared to what I trained on....


That being said, the first thing we learned in film & video class was to turn off the damned autofocus, zoom in on the subject, focus up, zoom out, then shoot.
....and that method has worked pretty well for me over the last two decades.


Now I've gotta decide on a Glidecam or a MiniDv stabilizer pro....
 
Glenn Fricker said:
FWIW, 20 years ago when I was taking media in college, Hi8 cameras were the big "wow" technology. Not quite "broadcast quality" but certainly better than the big shoulder rig/porta pak monstrosities the students from the year before had to use.

These days, the Hi8 is pretty laughable.

No doubt the 5d is an outstanding piece of gear (and I'd buy one if I had a couple of extra grand lying around) , but the T2i is mindblowing compared to what I trained on....


That being said, the first thing we learned in film & video class was to turn off the damned autofocus, zoom in on the subject, focus up, zoom out, then shoot.
....and that method has worked pretty well for me over the last two decades.


Now I've gotta decide on a Glidecam or a MiniDv stabilizer pro....
Click to expand...

I am totally with Glenn on this one. We were using Panasonic 888 3 tube cameras (which were all the rage in the late 80s early 90s for video) in my film and video class and we NEVER used auto focus. In fact we were told auto focus is for amateurs. It was always Zoom, focus, zoom out and shoot.
 
rlcramer said:
Panasonic has nothing to do with the Red One. The Red ONE is a significantly more expensive digital movie camera, with significantly more expensive lenses than what Canon produces.
Click to expand...

the company was financed by oakley and panasonic when they first came out...

maybe not now ?? ... but the REDCODE was primarily tested on panasonic cameras.

my mistake... i will reiterate... THE RED ONE camera.
 
rlcramer said:
To say they aren't professional is a little naive. Yeah - the body might have lots of plastic, and no weather sealing on the t2i, but the results speak for themselves. These cameras deliver where it counts.
Click to expand...

i was referring to the canon xl/ sony hdv series cameras (as was talked about in the previous post by @arv_foh).

but since you have mentioned it... no dslr camera is considered to be a professional video camera... simply because they lack the ability to produce timecode and the resolution downgrade to the native h.264 compression.

the resolution/native compression is a lot lower than any other dvcpro/hd tape.

there is no question that the t2i can perform with excellent quality... however this camera sacrifices a myriad of visual disparities that the 5d and 1d do not.

the dslr/video market phenomenon is fairly new with much more potential product gain and so far one of the biggest issues with canon's crop frame, pro-sumer dslr camera is the product longevity.

i am not the one defining canon's status of dslr in the professional market... canon is.

Professional

canon does not consider the 550d or anything below the 50d as a professional camera.

but at this point we are waxing semantics.
 
Just upgraded to the newly released 60D. It's got some very nice features like a flip out & reversible screen, Manual white balance with steppable kelvin, manual recording levels (which the 7d does not have) & a bunch of other goodies.

It's about $300 more than the T2i and is totally worth it.

canon_eos_60d.jpg


Here's a very good video comparing the 7d, t2i & 60d
http://vimeo.com/15213987
 
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