DSLR v Camcorder

[Richard Harrington]

Ouve got gear. Use a tripod. Plug in a tv or monitor via HDMI. You’ll be fine. Pickup our book if you feel unconfident

Richard M. Harrington, PMP

Author: Video Made on a Mac, Photoshop for Video, Understanding Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Studio On the Spot and ATS:iWork

[Ryan Loetscher]

What all are you considering when you say “equipment needed to shoot decent video” on the 7D? I just got the 5D for full time video! Unless you’re doing “run and gun” hand held video, the 7D will be better out of the box than any camera you could rent up to the Red One…. (my opinion anyway).

Pros: The depth of field, low light performance, quality of image and both focal lengths (both wide and long) cannot be matched by any camcorder you would rent. Far and away better.

Cons: Difficult to shoot hand held well. Even with an IS lens if you move around a lot it will shake with out a steady cam unit. Pulling focus takes some practice… but is doable (depending on how shallow you’re going to be). You’ll have to take audio separately if you want professional audio. The on cam mic is basically reference audio and picks up a lot of internal camera noise and the camera only allows for a mini jack for audio, which is rubbish for true pro audio… (however in most pro environments I would be taking audio separately anyway, you’ll just have to match it in post rather than connecting it in cam via xlr connections.) The codec can be difficult to work with unless you have CS5, but you can download something as simple as mpeg stream clip for free to convert the video to something more workable.

In my opinion, since you already have the 7D and know how to work the camera and are comfortable with lens (and have a wide array), you will get far and away much better quality without spending money on a lesser camera. Instead of renting a camcorder, use that money on the right audio setup for what you’re doing, and just use a tripod (or you can even build a stead cam by using a mono pod type contraption with weight on the bottom, indy guys do it all the time.)

Indy filmmakers left and right are dumping their expensive video setups to switch TO the DSLR’s.

[Henry Rowan]

Thanks, I appreciate the thoughts. I guess I’ll continue my search for good shoulder support rig and follow focus options. Who knows those things may come in handy for some of my still macro shooting as well.

[Noah Kadner]

“Indy filmmakers left and right are dumping their expensive video setups to switch TO the DSLR’s.”

yeah it’s a gold rush right now the likes of which compare to the first VX1000 Sony DV camera, the Panasonic DVX100 and HVX200, the XL1s and so on. DSLRs are the current ‘in’ technology. Maybe someday we’ll get Scarlet’s from RED and step up the game a bit but that day seems further away than ever.

Noah

Check out my book: RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera!
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook, Panasonic HVX200, Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon 7D.
Learn DSLR Cinematography.

[Bob Knapp]

Well, I own an A1U but I’m counting my pennies until I can buy A 5d(Why I’m on this forum). My thought is can your editing system handle heavy editing with 7d footage? What I do love about my A1U is the XLR ins and great audio metering. What I hate about my A1U is it looks terrible in low light. Your shots need to WELL lite to make anything look good from an A1U. If want to see some footage from A1U you can see here https://www.swispro.com

I too dream of the day I can ditch my Camcorder and go DSLR

[Noah Kadner]

Yeah it’s not that tricky- most folks are transcoding to a ProRes codec before even starting in FCP. Preserves quality and lessens the processor load. Any recent model Intel (assuming we’re talking FCP and I’m always talking FCP) that can run FCS3 can do the trick…

Noah

Check out my book: RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera!
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook, Panasonic HVX200, Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon 7D.
Learn DSLR Cinematography.

[Norman Pogson]

If your windows transcode the h.264 with Cineform Neoscene, easy peasy

My Canon 7D Blog

[Ryan Loetscher]

Definitely agree! I’m like, come on canon! You’ve taken the first step, now get that chip and those lenses on you XL bodies! It be f-ing amazing to have the weight, shoulder mount, controls, jack pack, better audio and all those goodies that come with cameras meant to shoot video.

For me, if you made a list of positives and negatives chart for DSLR’s, there would be way more checks in the negatives than positives… but that image crushes them all! Its all about image quality in the end. If you just take some time to figure out a system that works for you, there’s not comparison.

[Bob Knapp]

I give anyone great Props for going out there and battling the many sacrifices for that image.

We dealt with 56k modems for the internet for a long time but we didn’t say “No I’m not going on the internet because I wish it was faster”. We edited tape to tape back in the day but we didn’t say “I’m not going to edit because I wish we were able to edit on a computer”. Cavemen rubbed two sticks together to make fire they didn’t die waiting for the Bic lighter.

One day you will get the DSLR/Camcorder hybrid but that doesn’t mean you trash the players who were playing the game before you waited to get the new shinny red ball.

See What I See Productions
http://www.swispro.com

[John Young]

But, lets all remember that the image is everything. If I have to work harder to pull focus or hold the camera in awkward position, then I do it. If the alternative is a lower quality image.