Webcams Vs Camcorders vs DSLRs

[SwingPoynt]

Hello YTtalk friends! Need your guidance!

I've been meaning to move away from webcams for quite some time now, but I've always been a bit too uneducated about Camcorders and DSLRs to justify me investing in one.

Currently I use a Logitech C920 1080P webcam for recording. It's been great and serves it's purpose for Let's Plays, but I've been looking for to move to a camcorder or DSLR for a few obvious benefits:

• Mobility pretty sure that is straight forward hehe
• CPU usage (Recording 1080P 30FPS in addition to recording gameplay on one computer can be a bit taxing depending on the game!)
• Image Quality / Grain. And yes I know that has a lot to do with settings as well
• Been looking to have a nice camera anyway for photography as well!

1080p does not result in the same thing across all platforms, I'm certain that a DSLR will produce a much cleaner looking 1080P than my webcam will (being able to adjust aperture certainly will be welcome). And will have much greater versatility.

Anyhoo, point of the thread I guess. I'm wondering if any of you have any experience using either camcorders or DSLRs for recording, and have recommendations / things to look out for regarding them.

Also, any places you recommend I go to for reading up on these types of things? I like to know what I'm talking about before I go blowing money on something. I'd imagine Lynda.com is a good resource post buy to ensure that I'm using the thing correctly!

 

[Styxie]

Stick with a webcam. Most DSLR's have recording limits (10 to 20m at a time) and you're looking at about 1/2GB per minute of footage. Way overkill. Just don't record your webcam in 1080p unless your face is going to be taking up half the screen, downscale it to 480p and it'll look fine

 

[jnet]

Also look into the mirrorless type cameras.. they are a good in between for size and quality and price, I have a Nikon 1 J1 and I still love it

 

[Kedanomics]

I film with my Canon DSLR. I love it because I'm looking to getting into video production and film in the future, but do some research! I did plenty before I invested in mine. I absolutely love it.

 

[N.R.Walters]

I film with my Canon DSLR. I love it because I'm looking to getting into video production and film in the future, but do some research! I did plenty before I invested in mine. I absolutely love it.

I use a DSLR to film too, but.. and its a fairly big but that is overlooked. Dslrs have never been designed for video. In-fact the live view function was make so photographers could see exactly what the photo they where taking would look like. And the dynamic range tends to be small.

I would recommend looking for something with a nice big dynamic range if you are after image quality, then look at resolution.

 

[Styxie]

I use a DSLR to film too, but.. and its a fairly big but that is overlooked. Dslrs have never been designed for video. In-fact the live view function was make so photographers could see exactly what the photo they where taking would look like. And the dynamic range tends to be small.

I would recommend looking for something with a nice big dynamic range if you are after image quality, then look at resolution.

It's not because they weren't designed to be used for video that they aren't great at it

OP, investing all that cash is silly, stick with the webcam

 

[N.R.Walters]

It's not because they weren't designed to be used for video that they aren't great at it

Can i ask you for your thoughts on DSLRS for video? I have recently been looking into cameras more and more in and out of film school, and the more i look the more flaws i find with DSLR's for video.

Also for gaming A nice Webcam would be best yes.

 

[Karac Cano]

Can i ask you for your thoughts on DSLRS for video? I have recently been looking into cameras more and more in and out of film school, and the more i look the more flaws i find with DSLR's for video.

Also for gaming A nice Webcam would be best yes.

When you say gaming im going to assume you mean face cam so webcam is best and DSLR for video is good enough for me I prefer it over camcorder for my own reasons, and the video on it isn't too bad with the ones that are newer like dual pixel live AF canon 70D and others similiar that have better functions for people who shoot video.

 

[Xynudu]

A DSLR and suitable lenses is a lot of cash for making a 1080P video.

Consider bridge cameras as well.

The better ones have great optics and zoom range, excellent wide angle, light weight etc.

They now have optical viewfinder available as well.

The downside is that many tend not to take lens hoods or filters.

Also a sound jack should be included in any camera you consider.

I use a Nikon L820, it's sharp and great for what I do, but more cash gets more features.

While the Nikon has clear stereo sound, there's no mike jack, no view finder, and a lense hood can only be added with an after market adapter.

It does have excellent battery life, and fast reload - via AA batterys, which is a great feature for video.

I've looked at DSLR but can't see any benefits of going that (expensive) way.

Any upgrade would be to a fully featured bridge camera.

 

[N.R.Walters]

The video on it isn't too bad with the ones that are newer like dual pixel live AF canon 70D and others similiar that have better functions for people who shoot video.

dual pixel live AF - is just auto focusing, witch if you are shooting video you as the camera operator will want to have complete control over as you know what you want in focus for the shot in question. For example you may what to focus on what is happening threw a fence and the fence to be out of focus in the for ground to give the feel someone is watching the subject or that the subject is trapped, but with auto focus it will most likely make the fence in focus and your subject out of focus. The 70D is a APS-C CMOSS sensor and thus a full frame sensor would be more beneficial as it lets more light reach it due to larger surface area (full frame = the same size as 35mm film) and your 50mm lens on a full frame chip will be 50mm, whereas on an APS-C chip a 50mm lens would in effect work like a 80mm lens. plus this camera works in H2.64 when H2.65 is now out, I would hold out for a camera that uses that. That said you can faults with any camera if you look for them, and in the case of this thread i would say that a Decent webcam to act as a face cam would be the way to go over a Dslr as Dslrs are limited to how long they can record for tax reasons and the codecs some use. and you could use a camcorder but as you face cam probably is in the corner you don't need a 1080 recording for it, i recon you could even us standard definition recording. But if you want to do photography too then you would be looking at dslrs, just make sure you spend some time researching them before committing to buying.