What is a good digital still camera to use for production and post-production work?

[Chris Poisson]

Howie,

There are so many good still cameras, but I am very pleased with my Nikon 5700 CoolPix. Mostly I use it to capture stills as opposed to using a scanner, as it is very fast and the quality is excellent.

I especiall like the fold-out LCD, and I’m sure you would too in a production environment.

Have a wonderful day.

[Graeme Nattress]

I’d shoot “RAW” on a DSLR, which you can then convert in Photoshop CS2 Camera RAW for best results, with greatest dynamic range and degree of control. I don’t shoot a DSLR for the purpose you’re proposing, but just for taking photos, and I’m using a Canon20D, which is quite superb for the price. I’d recommend taking a look over at http://www.dpreview.com and seeing what’s out there and available.

Graeme

– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP

[Gary Hughes]

The biggest problems I have found on a video set with a digital still camera are poor auto white balance and noisy pics due to not enough available light. Shoot with the white balance set to tungsten, usually indicated by a light bulb icon, or daylight, usually indicated by a sun icon, depending on your primary set lighting temp. Buy a camera with a very low level of noise at the higher iso settings. The best I know of right now is the new Canon 5D. It looks incredible at high isos even at 3200, so you can usually get by without a tripod, plus you can shoot RAW with it. Also, the 20D will be widely available on the used market and it has better noise levels than the 10D. If you buy a used 20D, they are typically good for about 80,000 shots before needing reworked by Canon.

Having said that, on a much less expensive budget, I have the Canon S2IS. It does not shoot raw, but it does shoot superfine mode jpgs at 5 megapixels, which is more than enough for anything I’ve done. It has the flip out LCD and you can bump over to preview very quickly to zoom in tight to check focus. It has a 12x lens that I think is something like 32mm – 400mmish. It has Canon’s wonderful Optical Image Stabilizer built into the lens, which can really save you in low light or when zoomed in, unless you can shoot at 1600 or 3200 like the 5D. I always shoot in a fixed white balance and in manual exposure so that shot to shot won’t have slight inconsistancies.

Whatever you are considering, a great website for reviews of various cameras is https://www.dpreview.com.

Just a tip, I’ve heard a lot of bad about broken promises with Apple’s new program, Aperture. So, don’t rush out to get it just because you start shooting in RAW. Wait till some bugs are fixed and some good reviews are out there. After that, it looks very VERY sweet. I’ll be a user when it’s at version 2.

BTW, I’ve not used my camera in the way you are proposing either, this is just my 2 cents. I occasionally scout or document a set that I’ve designed for archive or self promotion. Primarilly I shoot product shots for web or that will be “Ken Burnsed” for video. Occasionally, I shoot a still of some static subject to use as cover in videos too.

Hope this helps,
Gary

[Tom Matthies]

I use a Nikon D70s with Nikon’s $99 Capture software. Shoot RAW and you won’t have to worry about white balance at all. Shooting RAW allows you to add all of the processing normally done in the camera to the stills later. It’s pretty slick. Use the wrong filter for your shoot? Just open them up in the software and change it to whatever you like. RAW basically captures the information directly off of the camera’s CCDs without adding any processing. All of the processing is then added while in the software later. One warning though, RAW files are large.
One more suggestion…Don’t run the iso sensitivity up too high or the image will suffer. Buy a tripod or at least a good monopod. I usually have my video camera on a tripod so why wouldn’t I use on with my still camera?
Tom