DSLR or Higher End Prosumer?

[Douglas MacKrell]

The 60D is a great camera - it's what I shoot on. I even use the kit lens - which is a little slow, but gets a clean shot and even zooms a bit.

The main thing you'd need to consider is recording length. The 60D has a shot time of 12 minutes before it times out. Which will make filming long format events, concerts, or plays impossible in a single take.

A prosumer camcorder can be a bit more adaptable, but there's a lot of decent budget equipment designed for DSLR shooting.

Check out cheesycam.com for some great tips, reviews, and links!

 

[TinHatRanch]

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

Interesting observation, what were you not blown away by in that video (in the context of comparing it to DSLR video)?

 

[Styxie]

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.

"You have to install firmeware just to make it usable" Disagree, It's perfectly usable without, you get better quality for your buck with DSLRs and a really geat lense choice. But yea prosumer would be more suited for OP's use imo

 

[Sinc]

Personally i feel like the DSLR is multi purpose, also it works in low light so its a good pick.

 

[Styxie]

Interesting observation, what were you not blown away by in that video (in the context of comparing it to DSLR video)?

Hard to say, video quality seems a bit lower and grainier. Still pretty damn decent but could do better.
How about the Sony NEX-VG20

 

[TinHatRanch]

Hard to say, video quality seems a bit lower and grainier. Still pretty damn decent but could do better.
How about the Sony NEX-VG20

I think you are confusing the quality of the cinematography with the quality of the camera. The NEX is no longer available according to Sony's website. It is a neat idea offering interchangeable lenses in a camera at that price level. Kind of the best of both worlds.

 

[Styxie]

I think you are confusing the quality of the cinematography with the quality of the camera. The NEX is no longer available according to Sony's website. It is a neat idea offering interchangeable lenses in a camera at that price level. Kind of the best of both worlds.

Haha yea I most probably am..
You can always get cameras like that new on Amazon ^^

 

[Wreckless Eating]

The Canon XA20 isn't worth the price. It's basically a G20 with XLR capability at double the cost. The G20 isn't worth the cost either-it's only a marginal increase over the previous generation G10 and isn't as sensitive in low light conditions. If you look around, you can find a G10 for $650-750, which leaves plenty of budget for audio.

On the Sony end, the NEX camcorders aren't worth the price. Go a step down and look for high end prosumer camcorders with something called Balanced Optical Steadyshot. The entire lens block floats within the body, which does better than anything else on the market to steady handheld shots. Walking shots (if you take small steps) will look like you're using a glidecam. The downside to this is cost. The upper end Sony for this year that features this is the HDR-PJ790V, which is $1600. What they don't tell you is that very few changes were made to the Sony handycam lineup for this year, so if you can find last year's model, they're nearly the same. The only thing the 790 adds is an outboard microphone and a slightly better projector. Last year's 760 and 710 are both available at steep discounts and feature the exact same lens and focus system that the current model has. I picked up two 710s for $420 each in June-discounted from $1299 at Best Buy. The only thing missing vs the 790 is an electronic viewfinder, the outboard mic and 32GB vs 96GB (on the 790) of internal memory. Saving $1200 per camera easily makes up for these things.

 

[TinHatRanch]

Haha yea I most probably am..
You can always get cameras like that new on Amazon ^^

That video does show some of the types of shots I would like to be able to make. If you notice, the camera is able to focus on the subject and blur the background. I can trick my cheap cannon into doing so by shooting telephoto and forcing the aperture to open all of the way but it really limits my options. Plus it takes quite a while to setup a shot like that having to go through the menus on the camera. And forget about doing it on the fly on a moving subject. The best I can get the canon I have to do is in this video at 1:12:

[DOUBLEPOST=1379446629,1379445823][/DOUBLEPOST]

The Canon XA20 isn't worth the price. It's basically a G20 with XLR capability at double the cost. The G20 isn't worth the cost either-it's only a marginal increase over the previous generation G10 and isn't as sensitive in low light conditions. If you look around, you can find a G10 for $650-750, which leaves plenty of budget for audio.

On the Sony end, the NEX camcorders aren't worth the price. Go a step down and look for high end prosumer camcorders with something called Balanced Optical Steadyshot. The entire lens block floats within the body, which does better than anything else on the market to steady handheld shots. Walking shots (if you take small steps) will look like you're using a glidecam. The downside to this is cost. The upper end Sony for this year that features this is the HDR-PJ790V, which is $1600. What they don't tell you is that very few changes were made to the Sony handycam lineup for this year, so if you can find last year's model, they're nearly the same. The only thing the 790 adds is an outboard microphone and a slightly better projector. Last year's 760 and 710 are both available at steep discounts and feature the exact same lens and focus system that the current model has. I picked up two 710s for $420 each in June-discounted from $1299 at Best Buy. The only thing missing vs the 790 is an electronic viewfinder, the outboard mic and 32GB vs 96GB (on the 790) of internal memory. Saving $1200 per camera easily makes up for these things.

I think the XA20 is more akin to the G30. You are correct in saying that the XA20 is a G30 with XLR inputs. The 20/30 do have Canon's new 20x lens and I've seen comps to the old XA10/G20 and the quality is much better. I am just not as familiar with Sony products. One thing you also have to consider (and I don't know about the Sony) is that you can capture a much higher bit rate then with the consumer models and do so in MP4 versus AVCHD. The camera that I end up choosing will be my base of operations until I can take another step up. I have aspirations beyond youtube for this camera so ultimate quality is of concern.

 

[IftiBashir]

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.

Ive used DSLR's for filming for the past year or so. Ive never had any issues and much prefer them to camcorders TBH.
The sensor and the power have not been an issue whatsoever. There isnt a recording cap either - well never for the ones I have used. Because of the card format used there is a limit of 4GB file size, but the camera just creates a new clip and continues recording, so you just place them together in your editor for seamless video.

I mainly shoot video only. My previous Canon EOS 650D (Rebel T4i) was great, and my current EOS 70D is even better as it autofocuses like a pro camcorder.

Personally I would say go with a DSLR with a decent kit lens, which should be more then enough for the OPs needs. This is YouTube remember, how much sharpness do you really need, considering YouTube's compression algorithms will always affect your end video quality anyways.[DOUBLEPOST=1379450013,1379449827][/DOUBLEPOST]

The 60D is a great camera - it's what I shoot on. I even use the kit lens - which is a little slow, but gets a clean shot and even zooms a bit.

The main thing you'd need to consider is recording length. The 60D has a shot time of 12 minutes before it times out. Which will make filming long format events, concerts, or plays impossible in a single take.

A prosumer camcorder can be a bit more adaptable, but there's a lot of decent budget equipment designed for DSLR shooting.

Check out cheesycam.com for some great tips, reviews, and links!

Ive not had any time limit issues with my 650D, or with my current 70D. Yes, it'll limit file sizes to 4GB, but continues to record and splits the clips, which you edit together later for seamless video. I know they can only record up to a certain time limit (I thought it was 30 mins or so?) as otherwise its no longer considered a camera, but a camcorder, and has some kind of tax implication making them more expensive etc, but Im pretty sure it continues to record and just splits clips.
I'll test on my camera later

The 70D is speedy fast - just like using a camcorder. The AF really is buttery smooth and FAST. But you also have the added flexibility of changeable lenses, which is why I prefer then over camcorders - oh and the easy to use MOV file formats rather then AVCHD formats!