Mike Drew
Forum Replies Created
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I completely agree. The new firmware for the 7D will add a lot of features but there’s no doubt that the 60D with ML is the way to go for video.
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I think it’s pretty clear that if your budget is around $1100 things like clean hdmi output and the endless debate on which codecs are best aren’t very high on your priority list. These arguments are blown way out of proportion anyway.
Sorry, I don’t mean to impugn your abilities or future desires but it just sounds to me like your needs are fairly basic.
I shoot news and short docs pretty much exclusively with the 7D and the 60D, both stills and video, and I love them both. The 60D with it’s swing-out screen and free Magic Lantern firmware is spectacular and my go-to camera for about 80 percent of my work. The 7D will also have new firmware from Canon in August that will vastly increase its video capabilities as well.
The 12-minute limit is a pain for some things but it’s pretty easy to stop the camera at a natural pause in whatever you’re shooting and then just hit record again. Takes about three seconds. Definitely not a deal-breaker.
Should you find you need anything more in the future, well, cameras just keep getting better and better. Get your basic needs covered now and worry about higher bitrates and codecs and all that other armchair video-geek stuff later. Get a 60D or a 7D and get shooting. -
First off, get a card reader. They’re cheap and easy to use and far more convenient than plugging in your camera. Get one that reads multiple card types so you can use other camera cards with it as well.
Then simply copy your .mov files from the card to a new folder – give it an appropriate name – on your desktop or external drive, go to Import From Camera, click Open Archive and choose your folder with the .mov files. You can then import like Log and Transfer – set in-outs and import individual files – or just select everything and import the whole works.
Very simple and you have the advantage of an archive of your files in addition to what’s on your card. -
Simply copy your 7D .mov files to a new folder – call it 7D video or something clever like that – then go to FCPX and hit import from camera. Click on open camera archive, select the folder you created and you’re off to the races. Just remember to leave the .thm files behind and copy only the .mov’s.
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No histogram in video mode but if you flip the switch back to stills and hit live view the histogram shows up when you press the info button twice.
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I don’t usually chime in on these things but I just have to sing the virtues of the Canon 60D. I’ve had mine since they first came out and have beaten it to a pulp using it on a daily basis as a newspaper photographer and videographer. They are far tougher than anyone gives them credit for.
They feature manual audio settings – which the 7D doesn’t have – so audio direct from the camera has none of that auto-gain hiss and since they share the same sensor with their siblings, 5D excepted, the files from the 60D are identical to the T2i, T3i and 7D. ISO 3200 is no problem in stills and shooting news video at ISO 2000 is more than useable.
The GH2 is an undeniably great camera but wide-angle lenses are tough to come by unless you try to adapt other makers’ glass. I shoot the 60D almost exclusively with a Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4 and rarely have to use anything else. In addition, there’s a free – or by donation – Magic Lantern hack for the 60D that gives you on-screen audio levels and a built-in intervalometer.
And all this for around $900 Canadian. An absolute bargain.