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  • DSLR for vfx work

    Posted by Tom Thursfield on April 26, 2014 at 11:13 am

    I’m looking for a dslr for vfx work for my showreel and I think I might have narrowed it down but as I’m not well versed in shooting with dslrs and thought I better ask before I make a mistake, my head is filled with spec sheets of numerous dslrs and compacts.

    I can fake a lot of things in post so I’m not after anything spectacular just something for green screen shots and background plates. I might do some slow mo stuff with twixtor so higher frame rate would be good and half decent still shots would be nice too for photoshop work.

    So I’m not looking at spending too much and I’m going to get second hand (I’m an aspiring vfx artist with a temp job).

    Cameras I’m looking at (without lenses)

    Canon 1100d £180
    Nikon 3100 £180
    Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH1 £220

    Am I right in saying that the gh1 has more control over shots than the other two?
    Are there any others I’m missing out? I’ve mainly been looking at ones I can find used for a good price in the uk from a decent vendor not ebay.

    I’m leaning towards the lumix but wondering if I could get away with something cheaper like even just a lumix g series (2-5) or a GF5 (all these lumix gs confused the hell out of me) but I’m guessing this is a step down. Or should I consider a nikon 1 v1 or sony nex 3?

    I could maybe stretch to a 550d if I don’t eat for a while.

    Thanks for any help muchly appreciated

    Tom Thursfield replied 12 years ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Mike Smith

    April 26, 2014 at 11:42 am

    Lumix GH2 can also be had for a fair price, and is hackable to allow an all-i-frame codec and a high data rate (onto very high performance SDHC card) – which might allow the better codec and so cleaner picture you might value in compositing / vfx.
    https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/1318-hack-to-give-the-gh2-an-all-i-codec/
    https://www.philipbloom.net/2010/11/21/gh2/

    https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/vfxEncodingGuide

    https://www.liftgammagain.com/forum/index.php?threads/what-codecs-do-you-get-vfx-to-deliver-hd.2343/

  • Tom Thursfield

    April 26, 2014 at 2:34 pm

    Thanks for the reply mike I’ve been trying to find a good priced GH2 but can’t seem to find one.
    However I seen that you can hack the GH1 too so it looks like I’m going to go for this, thanks for opening my eyes to hacking and thanks for the links too, really helpful stuff.

  • David Rehm

    May 1, 2014 at 11:48 pm

    Do NOT get the Canon T3 version (which is what you listed) for video work – it doesn’t have some of the features you need. Get a Canon T3i – make sure it has the “i” after the T3.

    The Panasonic DSLRs are nice but I personally would stick with a Nikon or Canon DSLR. You have many options for lenses, etc… Of course you could use these with the Panasonic (I assume) with an adapter.

    The Nikon D7000 or it’s offspring the D7100 is a nice camera.

    LD

  • Tom Thursfield

    May 2, 2014 at 4:21 pm

    Thanks for the reply David, I already went ahead and ordered a GH1 because I found it for a really good price and with the hack for the high data rate it seemed too good to miss out on. Also i’m a cheapskate!

    You can get an adapter for canon or nikon lenses you need a few tweaks but this guy in link says he’s selling all his m4/3 lens to go full canon lens setup.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3hhhaTrfrU
    https://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=12347

    Also because of the change in size you have to double the focal length of each lens when it’s adapted. So in 35mm terms, 28mm becomes a 56mm lens, 45mm becomes a 90mm etc etc.
    So not great for wide angle but for other sizes fine.

    I’m probably going to get a 14mm Panasonic lens and adapt anything else I need, my mums got a few old nikon lenses kicking about so I’ll have a mess around with them.

    You can even get cctv lens adapters.

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