Is spending the $ for T5i worth it vs a T3i?

[Ryan Holmes]

[Rev. Jay Cross] “SO, what would you guys recommend? Is there any reason to spend the extra $150?”

There’s plenty of reasons. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth it for you. Looking at “Body-Only” prices between the T3i and the T5i you’re only talking about $100 difference. With DSLR’s one of the biggest differentiating factors is the lens. Lenses tend to be expensive for good quality. Kit lenses that come standard on many DSLR’s (especially the entry level DSLR’s) tend to be cheaper lenses without the capabilities of their more expensive counterparts. But you asked about DSLR’s… 🙂

The biggest differences between the 2 cameras:
(1) Low light response (T5i being about twice as sensitive to light, meaning you can shoot in darker places and still have a usable image. This is what ISO refers to)
(2) Longer recording times

So if you only shoot in well-lit, staged environments and only need to record for 10 minutes or less at a time then the T3i would probably serve your needs. However, if your environments tend to not always be well lit and produced, and you need to record for up to 29 minutes continuously then the T5i is the winner.

Also keep in mind that audio on DSLR’s is a struggle to say the least. Most people who record on DSLR’s (myself included) use second-source audio. So the camera isn’t the primary source where you’re recording audio. Typically people will record to a dedicated audio device and then in post-production match that audio source up to their footage from a DSLR. Something like a TASCAM 60D seems to be pretty popular right now or second source audio.

Also keep in mind that you’ll need SD cards that are fast enough to record media on, batteries, different lenses for different focal lengths, etc. A DSLR is a versatile tool, but one that needs a lot of support in order to make it work for video. Remember that these are STILLS cameras first….video is a distant second!

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Rev. Jay cross]

Thanks for your response Ryan. I’m prepared enough from an audio standpoint, as even now I end up re-voicing most of the studio stuff. Same goes for things like Sd cards and some of that “infrastructure”. Its not my first time with video, nor my first time with a camera, simply my first time using DSLR’s in particular for video. I will take a look at the hardware unit you suggested for ambient/situational audio.

As for the Recording times, that does make a big difference, but from what I’m reading the issue can be skirted with the firmware changes…though being able to have a wifi connection to trigger through an app would be very nice. GoPro did spoil me on that fact.

The low light issue is a bigger one. I do have some lighting, but when we do outdoor and semi-outdoor shoots for car shows etc, I don’t want to worry that I’ll lose good footage to bad lighting if the weather is erratic or we are stuck on situational lighting only.

While I understand DSLR’s are designed for stills, thats the route I (and apparently more than a few others) would be subject to taking….unless there is a prosumer video camera that can beat its results for the same dollar. Sadly, every midrange (5-1100$) video camera I see ends up being a glorified camcorder, doing nothing more than my current cameras do, aside from increased battery life and onboard storage.

The Reverend Jay, aka REV J.