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Need camera recommendation


Mike Tay

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Hey y'all,

 

Needing some help regarding the acquisition of my first camera. I've been working in the industry heavily for 3 years but my intention is to now start spending more time building a reel. I have a decent bit of money saved and want to purchase a decent camera, lenses and some basic grip gear.

 

The main projects I imagine shooting will be music vids, spec ads, small docos, and maybe some small shorts. I don't have any paid work lined up at this stage.

 

So what I really want from a camera is;

* Simple workflow, capturing a format like prores which grades well and can be handled on my quadcore laptop, but doesnt cost an immense amount to manage.

* Decent slow motion capabilities (mostly for music vids)

* Excellent latitude and filmic quality image. This is very important to me, I hate trying to work around the 5-stops-of-latitude DSLR look.

* See no need for 4K, nothing i will be shooting at this stage will be viewed in a 4k medium.

 

It would be nice to keep the camera sub-$5000, and I'd like to get something within the next few months. I don't really feel like there's any solution just yet which fulfils all those needs, but I'm keen on your thoughts and if you know of anything coming up I should hold my breathe for.

 

thx for yo help!

 

 

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I'd say save your money and rent whatever camera is needed for the shoot based off of those savings, and charge it to production.

No I don't really see that as an option. I'm building a reel and have zero clients, no productions I work on are going to have any budgets at this stage. Many projects I shoot will be off my own back,

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Ok then the closest you have is a black magic camera-- the pocket as a package would be around $5k when you buy everything for it, lenses being the most expensive as well as tripods and monitors-- though it's god no slow motion. But that seems like a bad idea if you have no clients, no projects, and no way to pay that money back off of work-- somehow.

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NAB is next week. Canon may have some interesting things coming out that are in your price range. The C200 and C400. Maybe rumors but we'll know soon enough. Cameras are very temporary. So don't max out on that and dress it up with shoddy accessories cause it's a waste of money and it'll drive you nuts. There's tons of cheap matteboxes and follow focus units out there now that are just godawful crap. Stick with trusted brands and you'll be fine. Some new brands like Bright Tangerine and Lock Circle are making lots of innovative stuff. None of it is that cheap though of course Good luck.

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A used Sony F3 or a Sony FS700 paired with an Odyssey 7Q are your cheapest options for matching those criteria, but they'd still sit a fair ways outside your price range.

 

I'd second the Blackmagic Camera suggestion for the time being. $5k will set you up with a decent kit, and you'll have everything you need except slow motion.

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Blackmagic Pocket is an amazing little camera and probably the closest fitting your criteria. You could use cheaper lenses with adapters. M42 lenses or Canon FD lenses or something but you will struggle a little on the wides possibly. You should be able to find a 24mm at a good price if you hunt enough tho. Depends how much you want your lenses to match well too. You could have maybe a set of lenses in FD and then something in c-mount or something crazy on the super wides. Anyway it's possible to put together a lens package on the cheap if you compromise.

 

The other options might be the Panasonic GH1 and GH2 which can both be hacked and presently cost less than a go-pro second hand. You need lenses again of course. See above.

 

The GH4 looks VERY interesting but might be a bit too much money.

 

Now is exactly the wrong time to be looking at camera options however. In 2-3 days time everything will have changed. I would wait till next week and survey the new reality at that point.

 

Freya

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The new Canon XF 200 or XF 205 are nice video cameras. Compact package with decent zoom lens, broadcast ready codec, focus peaking and other controls. However, availability will be mid july. You can still save 1k or 600 or 1k usd depending upon which one of these two you choose. You can always create a good reel with this. When you graduate to higher projects, rent as per requirement.

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You can't afford grip equipment, a camera, and lenses with 5 thousand dollars. At best you could get a Canon 7D with a PL adapter and rent cinematic lenses like Zeiss primes or Canon cine lenses to give you a better image quality than standard EF lenses. Two features that come to mind were shot this way: Tiny Furniture and Sound of My Voice, it's the best option for the price.

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You can't afford grip equipment, a camera, and lenses with 5 thousand dollars. At best you could get a Canon 7D with a PL adapter and rent cinematic lenses like Zeiss primes or Canon cine lenses to give you a better image quality than standard EF lenses. Two features that come to mind were shot this way: Tiny Furniture and Sound of My Voice, it's the best option for the price.

Yeh i realise that, I was asking about a sub $5000 camera, not entire kit.

 

So unless I'm mistaken it looks as though NAB didnt provide a solution to my needs for 2014.. damn..

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I'd say save your money and rent whatever camera is needed for the shoot based off of those savings, and charge it to production.

 

Wow, I see you are doing well out here, Adrian! It must be nice to get whatever you want and make others pay for it. :D

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Wow, I see you are doing well out here, Adrian! It must be nice to get whatever you want and make others pay for it. :D

 

It's not all too bad :)

I tend to keep the pocket on hand for production which don't want to do that

 

But truthfully, there is such saturation here in LA on certain kit-- not all but certain-- that you can get a good deal and everyone walks away happy-- well happy-ish.

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The closest thing I could see to fitting your needs is the Sony FS100. It has slightly better dynamic range than DSLR's, although, like with the FS700, out of the box it doesn't look incredibly filmic. However, it does do slow motion at full 1080P and it only costs $4000 new, with used ones going as low as $3000. For under $5K you could combine it with an external recorder.

 

If slow-mo wasn't an issue, I'd say get a Black Magic, although the file sizes are such overkill and would cost you a fortune in post if you're shooting a lot, especially for documentaries.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks matt... yep fs700 is looking like what i want.. at least for a few hires initially cus I just need slo-mo. The new firmware on the Odyssey7Q allows for some pretty neat external recording,

 

 

The closest thing I could see to fitting your needs is the Sony FS100. It has slightly better dynamic range than DSLR's, although, like with the FS700, out of the box it doesn't look incredibly filmic. However, it does do slow motion at full 1080P and it only costs $4000 new, with used ones going as low as $3000. For under $5K you could combine it with an external recorder.

 

If slow-mo wasn't an issue, I'd say get a Black Magic, although the file sizes are such overkill and would cost you a fortune in post if you're shooting a lot, especially for documentaries.

So you say "out of the box" it doesnt.. can you elaborate on how I can make it more filmic with some adjustment? Are you talking in-camera settings or just grading?

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hello my name is omeri from buffalo ny. I am into the same things you are getting into. so far I have done a few music videos and some weddings and looking to get into commercials for local businesses. As for yourself I would highly recommend the cannon rebel t3i. when I started last year my budget was small but I needed a great "filmlook" but I didn't have a few grand to spend. This camera will give that to you. the key is the lens, lighting and fps. check out my short t3i review I also have a music video I did on there http://www.squidoo.com/canon-rebel-t3i-dslr

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey y'all,

 

Needing some help regarding the acquisition of my first camera. I've been working in the industry heavily for 3 years but my intention is to now start spending more time building a reel. I have a decent bit of money saved and want to purchase a decent camera, lenses and some basic grip gear.

 

The main projects I imagine shooting will be music vids, spec ads, small docos, and maybe some small shorts. I don't have any paid work lined up at this stage.

 

So what I really want from a camera is;

* Simple workflow, capturing a format like prores which grades well and can be handled on my quadcore laptop, but doesnt cost an immense amount to manage.

* Decent slow motion capabilities (mostly for music vids)

* Excellent latitude and filmic quality image. This is very important to me, I hate trying to work around the 5-stops-of-latitude DSLR look.

* See no need for 4K, nothing i will be shooting at this stage will be viewed in a 4k medium.

 

It would be nice to keep the camera sub-$5000, and I'd like to get something within the next few months. I don't really feel like there's any solution just yet which fulfils all those needs, but I'm keen on your thoughts and if you know of anything coming up I should hold my breathe for.

 

thx for yo help!

 

 

I would go for a used Sony EX-1, EXR or and EX3. All three are excellent cameras that have served me well for many years. They are still very viable and produce a great image.

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As for yourself I would highly recommend the cannon rebel t3i. when I started last year my budget was small but I needed a great "filmlook" but I didn't have a few grand to spend. This camera will give that to you. the key is the lens, lighting and fps.

Have you ever actually seen film? I have seen much of the t3i and I can tell you, no one would EVER mistake it for film if they knew better.

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