Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I need some advice to help me decide on a Camera, and I'll give a quick run-down of my situation because I've seen others leave out details on the forum after a brief scan.

 

I'm a Graphic Design student in Toronto, I'm in my 4rth year doing my Design Thesis, and over the past 2 years I've taken more motion graphics/VFX classes than anything else (which is strange to me in a design program mostly based on print and typography) none the less I've found myself heading in the direction of film.

 

I've been doing photography for some time now, I mostly only shoot for personal, but it lead me into film making when I had my Nikon D3100 (by no means a great camera for video)

 

I mostly shoot action sports up until now, some of the atheltes are taking on professional sponsorships for this year, so with that in mind I already needed to upgrade my gear to keep up with the level of deliverables.

 

As of recently I had my camera gear all stolen from me, there is little to no chance I will ever see any of it again. My next intention is to pick up more professional level video camera, something between $2000 and $3500 (Canaidan dollars) and I have NO idea what to pick. Most skate/snowboard/action sport camera men I meet suggest Sony VX series cameras, which to me isn't so appealing, I don't want to be investing an already limited amount of money into something used. I have some minor technical idea of what I'm looking at from playing with my gopro and knowing DSLR technology pretty firmly, but digital camcorders still confuse me when I read the technical specifications, there's just a lot to take in.

 

Beyond action, I do plan to step out into film making, and even hope to try my foot in areas I've studied like advertising.

 

I've been mostly going off what's available to me from Henrys http://www.henrys.com/Categories/112-Pro-Video-Cameras.aspx

 

So my question for those of you already experianced in this, what am I looking for? Anything right now is positive for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

There is a bit of a void between the top of DSLRs and the bottom of other things. I recently reviewed the new Sony NEX-EA50 (for redsharknews.com, who I believe will be publishing next week) which seems to be designed to fill exactly this niche, to be a DSLR that's a bit more usable, although it would probably be right at the top of your budget.

 

People might be recommending the small-chip Sony stuff because they don't like shooting action sports on rolling shutters or with shallow depth of field, and they're probably right if that's what you're doing. If, that is, that's what you're doing. It can be difficult to get the small-chip stuff to do nice things with depth of field, which is currently in vogue.

 

Otherwise, stick with a DSLR; whatever their foibles, the sheer price/performance ratio is still amazing. I've made this comparison in response to Matthew before, but a GH2 stills camera (cheapish, now) has very similar video performance to an AF100.

 

Matthew, I'd love to see what you've seen of the AF100 that provokes your high opinion of it; I mean, I think it's fine, I don't have a problem with it (it's possibly a bit noisy) but it seems like you've seen some really, really nice stuff somewhere!

 

P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Matthew, I'd love to see what you've seen of the AF100 that provokes your high opinion of it; I mean, I think it's fine, I don't have a problem with it (it's possibly a bit noisy) but it seems like you've seen some really, really nice stuff somewhere!

 

P

 

Phil. the footage Ive seen from it is not that much better than anything else, IMO, but I find the footage from these cameras produces exceptionally easy footage to grade in Magic Bullet. Other cameras, like the Sonys, it seems to take a longer time to get the nice richness of color that AF100 has. Adrian and I have argued (more discussion on his part) about this. He thinks Sonys are hands down better and he thinks the Pannys are over saturated.

 

In fact, as much as I love film, I ALMOST chose to buy an AF100 instead to shoot my low budget feature. Then I saw a shootout comparing 16mm film to AF100 and I woke up and got a reality check.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a bit of a void between the top of DSLRs and the bottom of other things. I recently reviewed the new Sony NEX-EA50 (for redsharknews.com, who I believe will be publishing next week) which seems to be designed to fill exactly this niche, to be a DSLR that's a bit more usable, although it would probably be right at the top of your budget.

 

People might be recommending the small-chip Sony stuff because they don't like shooting action sports on rolling shutters or with shallow depth of field, and they're probably right if that's what you're doing. If, that is, that's what you're doing. It can be difficult to get the small-chip stuff to do nice things with depth of field, which is currently in vogue.

 

Otherwise, stick with a DSLR; whatever their foibles, the sheer price/performance ratio is still amazing. I've made this comparison in response to Matthew before, but a GH2 stills camera (cheapish, now) has very similar video performance to an AF100.

 

Matthew, I'd love to see what you've seen of the AF100 that provokes your high opinion of it; I mean, I think it's fine, I don't have a problem with it (it's possibly a bit noisy) but it seems like you've seen some really, really nice stuff somewhere!

 

P

 

This is all really true. I wondered if the Sony fs100 is in that price range but maybe only second hand?

Actually, "a bit of a void" maybe gross understatement. It's just a huge void.

 

Avoiding the larger sensor cameras, there is also the Panasonic HPX-250 which is very underated for the price and might really fit the sports thing well.

 

As to DSLR's. Is the new panasonic GH3 an option? Not sure of the price? Loved that footage of the mosque on red shark tho! :)

 

...and I've also seen little that impressed me from the AF100. That movie "The raid" was shot on it tho and I really liked a music video shot on it too but thats all.

 

Heres the music video:

 

 

I suspect it's a great camera but just not being used all that much.

 

Freya

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...