DSLR or Higher End Prosumer?

TinHatRanch said:
Well, most of the stuff that I've done up to now has been me sitting in front of the camera. Here and there I've inserted some vignettes kind of acting out what I am talking about. An example of something I'd like to be able to do is re-shoot my "how to survive a nuclear bomb" series with live actors. I would narrate over the top of the people acting out the "how to survive part".
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It's a pretty tough question then, with that budget you can get some pretty damn good gear.. Even a BlackMagic 2K!
Prosumer camers usually don't have recording limits and would be pretty good for what you do, but then again so would a decent DSLR with proper autofocus.
 
As far as camcorders go, I think I'd be going with the Canon XA20. It is brand new, has a pretty good lens, XLR inputs, good options for manual control, it just is what it is out of the box. You can get them for about $1800 if you look. Everything you need minus the audio setup. With the DSLR you have to get lenes. The crap they sell in the kits is not worth the money you are spending. I wouldn't jump into the DSLR market if I couldn't get a F2.8 lens. I am not sure what Sony has to offer in that price range and the RED cameras are out of the question.
 
Styxie said:
It's a pretty tough question then, with that budget you can get some pretty damn good gear.. Even a BlackMagic 2K!
Prosumer camers usually don't have recording limits and would be pretty good for what you do, but then again so would a decent DSLR with proper autofocus.
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or get a gopro :confused: BLACK hero 3. good quality. like amzing footage for such a tiny box
 
Styxie said:
It's a pretty tough question then, with that budget you can get some pretty damn good gear.. Even a BlackMagic 2K!
Prosumer camers usually don't have recording limits and would be pretty good for what you do, but then again so would a decent DSLR with proper autofocus.
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That is the whole point, I am not going to be using autofocus or auto anything. I want to setup my shots and have them look like I see them in my minds eye.
 
TinHatRanch said:
As far as camcorders go, I think I'd be going with the Canon XA20. It is brand new, has a pretty good lens, XLR inputs, good options for manual control, it just is what it is out of the box. You can get them for about $1800 if you look. Everything you need minus the audio setup. With the DSLR you have to get lenes. The crap they sell in the kits is not worth the money you are spending. I wouldn't jump into the DSLR market if I couldn't get a F2.8 lens. I am not sure what Sony has to offer in that price range and the RED cameras are out of the question.
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Seems like a good idea to me! with DSLRs you can buy them without the kit lense and use the saved money to buy a some good lenses. Also some old lenses are fairly cheap.
 
Want the best answer? youtube it as you can see the quality. and there are people that i know that test the most expensive cameras and compare them to simalar price cameras:)
 
TinHatRanch said:
That is the whole point, I am not going to be using autofocus or auto anything. I want to setup my shots and have them look like I see them in my minds eye.
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Ah right then, DSLRs are usually the best quality for the money up to a certain point, I looked at this footage of the camera you are talking about and wasn't really too blown away
You could always get a 5D Mark 2 for about 1k but it dosent have XLR input so you'd need a Tascam or Zoom to record (good) audio, might be more of a pain.[DOUBLEPOST=1379443491,1379443312][/DOUBLEPOST]/r/filmmakers has a good camera guide on what to buy
http://www.reddit.com/r/Filmmakers/wiki/cameraguide
 
If you have the fund go straight to prosumer and don't look back. Unless you are also taking photos, a DSLR for filming is just way too limited. The sensor, power, and recording caps are not video friendly. You pretty much have to install custom firmware just to make the DSLR video usable and that's not ideal.

Personally I use a 7D to film with a set of L lens, but if I was solely shooting video I wouldn't have pick up the DSLR.
 
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