Need help to pick a camera

January 19, 2012

so i am a beginner at film making things and also at photography

up until now i had a tm700 and the quality was great but i am now thinking of buying a DSLR

i tried the sony a65 (1080/60p) which was great but very bad low light which is one of the most important things i am looking for

so i was thinking between gh2,canon t2i,t3 or t3i, or maybe just maybe d7000(if i can get that much money)

since i dont know anything about any of these cameras i need your help

first on which model am i going to get the most Manuel control over video with AF and which has the best 1080P quality

second which has the best ISO performance (specially in video (in a65 you could only go to 1600 in video))

and IF i hack the canon with magic lantern or GH2 with the hack will the video quality specially on canon improve and will i get higher iso in video

and are there any hacks for nikon d3100, d5100 or d7000 (i like the d5100 but video quality sucks) so will it improve all of the things becasue i heard that nikon has good low light performance and is it possible to hack d90 to record in 1080

Ari Davidson · January 19, 2012

so i am a beginner at film making things and also at photography

up until now i had a tm700 and the quality was great but i am now thinking of buying a DSLR

i tried the sony a65 (1080/60p) which was great but very bad low light which is one of the most important things i am looking for

so i was thinking between gh2,canon t2i,t3 or t3i, or maybe just maybe d7000(if i can get that much money)

since i dont know anything about any of these cameras i need your help

first on which model am i going to get the most Manuel control over video with AF and which has the best 1080P quality

second which has the best ISO performance (specially in video (in a65 you could only go to 1600 in video))

and IF i hack the canon with magic lantern or GH2 with the hack will the video quality specially on canon improve and will i get higher iso in video

and are there any hacks for nikon d3100, d5100 or d7000 (i like the d5100 but video quality sucks) so will it improve all of the things becasue i heard that nikon has good low light performance and is it possible to hack d90 to record in 1080

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I own the Nikon D7000 and have shot journalism, music video, and timelapse with it quite a bit. As a timelapse camera, I haven't found anything more reliable or convenient. The low light functionality is great compared to all the others you listed, but doesn't hold a candle (no pun) to something like the 5DmkII. I owned a hacked T2i for about a week and got rid of it. Though you get great functions from the Magic Lantern hack, it is a pain in the ass to use. I had a two camera shoot with it and my D7000. It took longer to setup and gave out on take three of the interview.

Let's talk bang for buck or, "buy cheap, pay twice".

The Nikon D7000 and D5100 are basically the same camera and have a superior processor to all the others you listed, but you don't have the advantage of firmware hacks or the capability to adapt a vast world of glass to the bodies, BUT you do get five decades of Nikkor glass to choose from.

As for Canon, I wouldn't rely on any of their DSLR's with the exception of the 5DmkII or 1DmkIV. Their APS-C chips just plain don't do it for me. However, you can adapt ANY lens to the EOS mount, as you should seeing as EOS lenses don't have an aperture ring, but that's just a preference...

A hacked GH2 is great for the bit rate, but do you really need 170mb?

If I were you, I'd get the Sony 5N. Hands down. You get an EXMOR sensor! The same technology used in the FS100 and F3! Just scaled down to APS-C. You get full 1080p60 which none of those cameras can offer, HDR, focus peaking, and you can adapt any lens to sony's mount. I mean, it's good enough for BBC. If it doesn't work out for you, you're not even out $1k.

And all that fuss over low-light? for what? To put it lightly (ha!), you'll make a prett half-ass DP, if you're not as meticulous with lighting as you are with camera.