[Mark Anderson]

Hey Sarah, it sounds like you want a camcorder that produces cinematic footage with soft depth of field. That’s going to be tough with your budget.

When I am not using DSLR I go to my Panasonic AGAC 90. It’s one of the easiest cams I have ever used plus the HD footage looks great. All for under $1,500. It’s one of the newer cameras from Panasonic. I love it and use it a lot for run and gun events. Just know you won’t get a lot of creamy background. You can always fake it a bit by adding gaussian blur and garbage mattes if you needed to create soft DOF.

[Mark Anderson]

That is really odd. Sorry to hear of this. I use Class 10 Extreme cards at 80 mbps and it works fine. One would think 95 is better. By chance did you forget to format the card?

[Mark Anderson]

Good stuff, Ryan. I checked and my card is class 10. I appreciate your counsel.

[Mark Anderson]

Great insight, Ryan, thanks! Nice visual thinking of those shooters putting their cams on ice like an athlete after the big game. I used a Sandisk Extreme, 128 gig, 80MB card. It seems anything under 40MB the camera stops recording after 10 seconds. I’ll keep an eye on it and pack the ice. 🙂 Thanks again!

[Mark Anderson]

Hi Mathew,

I have shot professionally for 15 plus years using all kinds of camcorders. I wanted that cinematic look and DSLR definitely brings you up a huge notch when it comes to soft DOF. I was actually stunned how much better the images look. For me the biggest difference was soft DOF — which gives you that cinematic look due to the larger sensor in DSLR.

However, it was a massive learning curve for me to learn new muscle memory getting used to shooting in manual mode while keeping an eye on ISO, shutter and aperture. Shooting with a camcorder is in my opinion so much easier to use, but you typically will not create the soft DOF that so many of us desire.

Also, be warned that when using DSLR, you really have to keep an eye on focus. The reason is because of the soft DOF. While soft DOF is pretty, it’s a challenge to keep a sharp focus. You may need an external HD monitor to help you zone in on the focus. On the Rebels, there is not a focus peaking feature — but that can be added with Magic Lantern for the T2i and T3i. I am not 100% sure on the T2i, but I know you can add it to the T3i.

The biggest challenge as you have likely learned by reading reviews online is audio. It’s just not nearly as simple as the camcorder. You will need an external audio recorder or a device like JuicedLink if using DLSR. Or, if you go the route of Panasonic GH3 or GH4 you can record audio directly into the camera without an external device as these types of cameras do not record the annoying hiss that a DSLR records. Plus, they have a headset jack to monitor audio, which is huge.

My first DSLR was a T4i and it was a solid camera. I am currently using the 70D but am seriously looking at the GH4. A friend of mine still shoots video on a T3i and it’s also very solid — however be aware of the audio limitations.

If I have an intense shoot where I will be trucking with my feet, documentary style, I will still grab my video camcorder. Camcorders still have their place, especially shooting events where you need to zoom and move quickly and record long periods at a time. I would keep the camcorder in the lineup.

[Mark Anderson]

Thanks, Marco, that was a huge help! I also had to put the cursor before the R even though it would not register on the R, then hit the space bar, then kernel back a few spaces. Oddly, when I hit the space bar, it came together. That did the trick. So thankful to this forum! -Mark

[Mark Anderson]

BTW, I can type out “courage” in lowercase and it looks fine, the problem is using uppercase as this is the style we want for this project. The space issue happens using uppercase.

[Mark Anderson]

Thanks, Eric and Rich! I appreciate your thoughts!

[Mark Anderson]

Thanks for the quick response. Do I have to simply add to the current plist or do I delete the old list and add John’s plist and then re-save?

[Mark Anderson]

I have the same challenge with T4i footage and using Log and Transfer. Question, when I add to the plist, do I have to delete the current plist that is in my Mac — OR do I add the plist that John Sheatsley provided below the current plist? Thanks, John! I also added the E-1 movie plug in.

When I try to log and transfer the footage, it now starts to work temporarily but nothing comes up from my SD card.

This is a great thread and I am grateful for everyone’s thoughts.

-Mark