Need to buy new camera, not sure which to get. 5D Mark III or NEX-VG900

[Steve Crow]

The fact that you’ve included a traditional style videocamera suggests to me you aren’t 100% sure of going the DSLR route which is fine. Both cameras are more than capable of filming any project you might have in mind -go with what you are most comfortable with. I would personally go with the MIII because I am willing to deal with the extra challenges it presents in exchange for “the look” and the many online resources available specifically geared to that camera body

Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com

[Mike Lavin]

Thanks for the advice, I was also considering the black magic camera. Do you know anything about that one??

[Steve Crow]

No, not a lot, but I do know there are many die-hard fans on this and other forums.

The company has definitely been a positive force in the industry by pushing the major manufacturers – I believe the big deal with them is 4K, the ability to shoot RAW or to ProRes and an increased dynamic range. My understanding that the tradeoffs include a smaller sensor (somewhat smaller than an APS-C sensor), an odd shape that is not necessarily ready for handheld out of the box and some odd software issues which I believe they are addressing. There has also been a major issue with their delivery schedule meaning you may have to wait weeks or months to actually get one but I understand that’s improving somewhat too.

Shooting RAW seems like a no-brainer meaning something you would very much want to do if given the opportunity but the increase in file sizes is going to impact your whole workflow and wallet. My Macbook Pro is a “senior citizen” and could not handle it, not to mention the number of new hard drives I would have to buy in order to hold, edit and archive the RAW footage.

With the MagicLatern firmware hack, a variety of HD DSLRs can also now shoot RAW in a limited fashion, even older Canons that couldn’t even shoot video officially can now be unofficially “upgraded” to RAW capability with this add on software. I BELIEVE the Mark III was just recently added to the list of supported cameras that you can download MagicLantern firmware for (for free)

If you do buy a blackmagic camera you will join an enthusiastic community and it will be quite an adventure for you. It’s not for me (yet, I’m always open to changing my mind as new things develop) and although I now shoot Canon it’s counterproductive to be too much of a fanboy (or fangirl or fanwhatever) of any brand since a camera is just a tool and you owe it to yourself to get the best tool FOR YOU regardless of any brand loyalty.

A pretty famous still photographer, Trey Ratcliff, just switched from Nikon full frame cameras to Sony micro 4/3rds leaving some with their mouths hanging but he had his reasons

Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com

[Kevin Duffey]

It depends on what you want. The BM 2.5K camera is a fantastic deal right now… Why? Well, the BM Pocket camera is $995 but with a 1080P potential CinemaDNG RAW 10-bit recording. However, for 2K, the 2.5K gives you the extra wiggle room to work around shakes and other things when outputting to 1080p, as well as you record to SSD for longer times (potentially), and the sensor is bigger, but the big one is you get the $1000 Davinci software with it (you get version 9, but there is a free version 10 upgrade). That’s huge.. essentially making the better 2.5K camera only $1K, the same price as the smaller sensored but still impressive pocket camera.

The 4K is really the gold mine though. Not only do you get 4K resolution, you get a global shutter, which in the world of video is pro stuff.. huge. It avoids the moire or wiggling of video while panning and other movements, and at 4K in price (with the Davinci software), the global shutter and 4K resolution is an incredible package for only 4K in price.

If you can afford it, the 4K setup is the way to go, otherwise for me the 2.5K with 13 stops of range, .7K extra room to deal with cleaning up unstable video, etc, is worth it.