How to choose a dslr for indi film shoot?

[Noah Kadner]

Canon DSLRs are IMHO much better than Nikons- they have been doing video much longer and it shows. Not just image quality but ergonomics. Shooting video on a 7D or a 60D is pretty straightforward- on the 5100 it’s a pain. Not sure what your budget is but I’d go with Canon hands down if the goal was DSLR for video.

Noah

Call Box Training.
Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and GoPro HD Hero.

[Pete Burger]

Since I have no experience with VDSLRs other than Canons, I can’t compare the different brands.
I own a 550D (T2i) myself and did a lot of editing of “mixed footage” projects of various Canon VDSLRs. So what I think I can say is, that between the these there’s not much difference in picture quality. Of course, the 5D MkII stands out a bit – mainly because of its full-frame sensor, but choosing between 7D, 60D, 550D or even 600D is more a choice of budget, ergonomics (the 60D and the 600D have a swivel screen which is very handy) and the question of how important still photography is to you.
On the video-quality side, IMHO the main difference is, that the “smaller” Canons produce a bit more noise when using high ISOs than the “bigger” ones.
If I had to choose one today for video, I’d take the 60D mainly because of the swivel screen and the possibility to use the Magic Lantern Firmware hack (which is not possible with the 7D).

Just my two cents

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“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster Keaton

[Joydeep Ghosh]

Dear Peter Thanx for such a candid opinion… will please tell me more about the Magic lantern hacked firmware ..how one loads it and what does it do?

[Brent Dunn]

5D MkII has better color detail with the full sensor than the 7D or 60D. All are great camera.

If you have the budget, look at the Panasonic AF-100. Depending where you live, you should also consider renting a camera.

Brent Dunn
Owner / Director / Editor
DunnRight Films
DunnRight Video.com
Video Marketing Toolbox.net

Sony EX-1,
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 7D
Mac Pro Tower, Quad Core,
with Final Cut Studio

HP i7 Quad laptop
Adobe CS-5 Production Suite

[Steve Crow]

I’m not all the interested in the swivel LCDs and won’t pay extra for it, here’s why.

In order to film shallow depth of field videos I have to use a Z-Finder that shields and magnifies the LCD screen so that it can be seen in bright outdoor settings. If the LCD swivels – I could use my Zacutto Z-Finder – it’s only made to work when the LCD is in the flat/normal position.

There are external monitors you can buy to use with your DSLR and, in fact, Zacutto’s latest version of the Z-Finder type device is that kind of form factor – so maybe with one of those I could then get away with using the swivel LCD – but for right now it’s not a high priority at all.

I am more jazzed about my new 4 foot mini crane/jib that is arriving today…whoppeee!!! Gonna get my camera flying!

[Pete Burger]

Glad, I helped a bit!

In short: Magic Lantern is an enhancement that adds a lot of features to Canon VDSLRs. Almost all Canons except the 7D are supported. AFAIK 7D support is still under development.

The cool thing is, it is installed on the card and not the camera itself, so you don’t have to replace your original firmware. If you format the card or insert a card without ML, Magic Lantern is gone.
I’m using it with my 550D (T2i) for a couple of months now and it is more than useful! I’m very happy with it.

Installing is a bit tricky, but not too complicated. You’ll have to make your card bootable, copy the ML files to your card and do a “firmware update” with that card the first time you’re using ML. This will not actually update the firmware of your camera, but “convince” the cam to boot ML from your card every time a ML-card is inserted. You’ll still have access to the camera menu and all features but a ML menu with all the ML features is now available with the “Erase” button.

The only real problems can occur if you insert a bootable card, that doesn’t have ML installed. At least that’s what I read.

Problems I had: Sometimes the camera hangs. Even switching it off won’t change anything. Taking the battery out for a couple of seconds and then restaring helps.

You might take a look at this link, it includes installing information and a feature list:

https://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Lantern_Firmware_Wiki

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“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster Keaton

[Jim Hagan]

Question for Peter Burger. I’m just about to pull the trigger on purchasing the Cannon T2i (550D)by the recomendation of the DSLR Cinematography Guide from nofilmschool.com. Somewhere I read that the
T2i could only rsolve to 680 lines but it has to be able to resolve to 1080 lines woudn’t it? I was wondering about your experience with the T2i(550D). Can you get what would be considered broadcast quality at 1080p/30fps? I’m planning on doing mostly static camera shots but most of the antialiasing and moire patterns I believe I can fix in post with AfterEffects. Good Quality at 1080p /30fps?

[Steve Crow]

I believe what the 680 lines posting may have been about is image sharpness as evaluated by someone filming a resolution chart and evaluating how many lines they could see clearly or something like that.

Would it surprise you to learn that most DSLR video pros turn the sharpness of their cameras all the way DOWN to zero? Sharpness is a quality that photographers really need but when applied to video the opposite is almost (not entirely) true. A sharp picture is like bad video from camcorders where everything is in perfect sharpness – cinematic film has a much softer look – therefore it’s not meant to be sharp.

Bottom line, you will LOVE the look of the T2i with a good fast lens attached…

[Jim Hagan]

Thanks for the advice Steve, Could I also ask about the speed of the lens. I’m looking at an ebay deal( Canon authorized dealer )with 18 to 55mm lens f3.5 on the fast end 5.6 on the other end. Will this be fast enough to get me started or will I need something faster?

[Joydeep Ghosh]

Thanks steve

Another issue, other than 2 Digic 4 processor for 7D and in case of 60D or T21 1 Digic 4 processor is there any major difference between the two as far as video is concerned? How do u compare the Espeed 2( Nikon) with Digic4 ( canon)?

best

J