[Pete Burger]

A 32GB card will hold about 100min. of video. Both, in 1080p or 720p. The 60D uses SD cards, doesn’t it? If so, you’ll be alright with class 6 cards.

[Pete Burger]

As written in my post below, you can use the Highlight Tone Priority, which helps, to not blow out bright areas. As mentioned, some guys advise to definitly turn it off, others to definitly turn it on. So, test it for yourself. I personally find it useful in bright conditions.

An external viewfinder might be useful as well, esp. in bright conditions.

The “histogram” tip, Sohrab gave is definitly a livesaver! With Magic Lantern you can overlay histograms (rgb or luminance) on the display while recording. Very (!) useful. Check out, what the guys of Magic Lantern are doing. I don’t know, what the current development status of the 60D version is, but this piece of software is really true magic. Provides so many handy features (like the built-in follow focus, higher video bitrates, etc, etc, etc…). I don’t want to miss it for my T2i.

Also great: The new Cinecolor picture style from Technicolor. An awesome “flat” style that helps to preserve detail in dark and very bright areas. Like all “flat” styles, it creates very dull (is this the correct english word?) pictures in the first place and needs grading in post, but the results are stunning. With the look-up table (LUT), that is part of the free bundle, grading is easier than with other flat styles. Just import the LUT in FCP or use the free Red Giant “LUT-Buddy” plugin for Premiere and After Effects. Of course you can grade to your taste with any correction filter you are familiar with (levels, curves, …)

[Pete Burger]

You’ll sacrifice money 😉 and a lot of grain…

Joking aside: With faster lenses it’s harder to keep focus, but you’ll be gratified with less noise (because you don’t have to take high ISOs) and beautiful bokeh.

By the way: When choosing ISO, try to take multiples of 160 (160, 320, 640, …) if possible with your camera. I think the 60D offers those ISOs. They produce noticably less noise!

You also might want to try the Highlight Tone Priority, when shooting in bright conditions. The use of HTP is most controversial. Some like it, some avoid it.

[Pete Burger]

[Don Scrams] “I had some trouble finding a good set up for shooting in the sun at the beach – everything was looking very exposed.”

For shooting in bright conditions, it’s common to use ND-filters. Maybe get a fader ND, which can be adjusted to the light conditions. Another big advantage of ND filters: you can use any aperture you like, and so have exactly the DOF you want, because you control the light with the ND.

[Pete Burger]

[Matt Campbell] ” Is that lens made for the crop sensor of the t3i?”

With the crop that lens is like an 80mm on a full frame sensor, it has no stabilizer and and a very poor focus-ring.

Nevertheless – for that price: a must-have.
Extremely fast (1.8) and the picture quality is awesome. Don’t think you can go wrong with it, if you don’t want to spend 450 dollars for the 50mm 1.4.

[Pete Burger]

Glad, I helped!

[Pete Burger]

If you’re after the so-called film-look, 24p with 1/48 are the way to go.
With the shutter-speed you not only change the brightness of the picture but also the motion-blur. Faster shutterspeed = less motion-blur = more “strobing” motion.

If you want to maintain a constant look throughout your clips, don’t touch the shutterspeed but change the brightness with the help of ISO, aperture or nd-filters.

A general rule of thumb is: Shutterspeed = 2 x fps

But: Playing around with shutterspeed can be a creative way to change the feel of a film. If you think about “Private Ryan” or the battle scene in “Gladiatior” (to take the best known examples), they are shot with higher shutterspeeds and have a kind of hectic feel about them.

[Pete Burger]

I’d suggest a field recorder. The Zoom H4n might be a good choice. Plus mics of course.

[Pete Burger]

In general any i-frame based codec (a codec that saves every single frame) is better for editing.
Saves a lot processor-power and RAM, especially when applying effects. In my experience, even if native editing works, editing will be a lot smoother with i-frame footage.

[Pete Burger]

I personally try to avoid having to go above 800. For my personal taste even 1600 is too noisy, let alone 3200.

But I think it’s more like: “How much noise are you willing to accept?”
If it’s documentary and you will not get a second opportunity to get the shot of the alien invaders abducting your neighbours dog… well, then use as high ISO as needed… 😉 You know what I mean.

Just my two cents.