Help me pick a $3000-$5000 Filming kit.

M

MLeone

Member
1) What is your budget? How much money can you spend right away, and do you think you can get more money to invest in the future?

Budget is $3000-$5000 right away. Could prob invest a grand or 2 in future.

2) What experience do you already have with cameras? Have you ever even used one before? Have you helped your friend out with his camera? Have you owned your ow

I have alot of experience with cameras, and have owned a few of my own.

2) What gear, if any, do you currently have? (tripod, old camera lenses, mics, etc)

Current setup is T2i, Tam 17-50, Azden SMX-10, few primes.

4) What are you planning to shoot and how do you want to use your camera? Are you going to use this with the sole purpose of shooting skiing? or do you think you might try other stuff as well (movies, documentaries, short films, etc)

Basically I want it to very very versatile and be able to shoot with ease in most scenarios.

5) Do you want a camera that you can hand to your friends, that could or could not have film experience, and let them shoot you? or will you be doing all the filming?

I will be doing all the filming.

6) When filming skiing, how do you tend to shoot? (follow cams, leave it on record on a tripod and hike, film from a tripod, etc)

It's not necessarily for skiing

7) What computer do you currently have/use to edit (if not currently editing, what would you most likely use)? If you can provide specifics, such as hard drive space, RAM, processor size, that would be great.

My computer can handle anything

7) What program do you currently edit on? How familiar are you with it (1- just learning; 10- I can make tutorials and know the keyboard layout)

Just got CS5.5 recently on PC still adjusting but learning quickly

---------------------------Optional Section, for those seeking a more intensive upgrade/purchase------------------------

1) Do you think you might consider using a DSLR?

Sure

2) Do you have any knowledge about the HDSLRS?

Yep, lots

3) Do you know the limitations to using HDSLRS?

yep

4) Are you willing to take the time to learn about a DSLR, and how to shoot with manual lenses?

Already know how to.

5) Again, do you want a camera that you can hand to your friends, that could or could not have film experience, and let them shoot you? or will you be doing all the filming ?

I will be doing all the filming.

___________________________________________________________________________

Basically my friend is buying me a 3 grand - 5 grand video camera. Could be a dslr or a video camera (although i'd prob prefer a vid cam, doesn't matter that much though...) I have a very good amount of experience already with video cameras, and dslrs. I just want some suggestions because I've never really bought any camera from this high of a price range. I also want a variety of accessories with this camera, so essentially 3-5k is how much I can spend on the entire kit. I'm also willing to learn anything I need to so don't hesitate suggesting cameras you think may be too difficult. Thanks! K+ for serious help! I'm also not necessarily stuck on a certain brand but I do know canon the most...
 
Why do you need a new setup? I would get a variety of lenses and work with your current camera longer. Fro what i remember, you havent had it long right?
 
damn. curious to see what some people say here. My suggestion is to keep your t2i and pickup some really nice glass/accessories.

Just get a really nice

Glidecam

Slider

Tripod

Audio solution? (external recorder w/ mixer + mics)

Lenses

Canon 70-200 2.8IS II

Canon 24-70 2.8 (I know a lot of people have had bad luck with this lens, but I love it)

Tokina 11-16

Then maybe a 85 1.8, or 50 1.4?

Also, can't help but ask, how do you have a friend buying you a camera for that price?

 
I completely agree with you guys here too, but for some reason he is set on me getting a new camera too. I'm gonna be shooting alot in parties, concerts, clubs so there won't be much light. And yeah I know faster glass but I mean lets be honest fast glass can help but it can only do so much. I'll see if I can talk him into getting just a shitload of gear, but if not I wanna have a camera suggestion ready. but feel free to suggest gear for my t2i as well. And for whoever asked why he's giving me 5K for a camera. Well he has the most fucking successful teen party business where he makes 15K every time he holds a party and I've been filming his events but i guess since he loves me he just decided to give me 5K? Not trying to sound like a snobby bitch here haha but when someone says ill give you 5k for camera shit, it's not like im gonna turn it down.
 
thats so awesome man. gotta love those connections. cant really help you out with camera suggestions as i havent really done that much research in the $2500+ camera range, but best of luck and i look forward to seeing some edits.

BTW, DVXuser would probably help you out a lot more than NS
 
If you want something good in low light, sell your t2i setup so you have about 6k. Put that towards an fs100 setup. Great camera for low light situations. Pick up a used body for 4500 or so and drop 1k on a tamron 17-50, tokina 11-16 and a novaflex adapter. Used nikon glass. Use the left over money you have on batteries, memory cards etc.
 
I personally would say wait until canons next "7d" or top of the line apsc camera comes out

then get that, buy a set of primes, get a sachtler tripod, and get a redrock rail system with follow focus and maybe extra parts to make a small handheld rig. keep the glidecam, sell all your other shit. spend leftover money on audio
 
If you really want to drop the DSLR and pick up something a bit more versatile check out Blondie's sale for his HVX.
 
haha of course man! and yeah for sure. Thanks bro! and @J Gasper. I thought about an FS100 setup but haha idk. If we were gonna spend that much I'd just try to squeeze a few more grand out of him so we could get the fs700 when it's out. Cause that shit is redic. Thoughts for anything cheaper? And for the person who said wait for canons next video dslr, Well I really need to make a purchase soon and I couldn't really wait (unless it's a fs700 cause that's jesus) and to be honest, when compared to other dslrs for video canon isn't necessarily headed in the right direction
 
hvx is hd... but, anyhow I wouldn't get an hvx for your needs anyways, terrible in low light, like someone mentioned before fs100 is great in low light, I imagine that the af100 is as well though
 
I know eheath was gonna go for the af100, but then decided for the fs100. Im not familiar with the differences, but you might wanna get his opinion on af100 vs fs100 if your heading in that direction
 
since you said you're gonna be filming parties for this guy an fs100 or af100 are definitely good choices. i think the panny ac160 is also pretty good in lowlight but it's avchd, the hpx250 is p2 and is baller as fuck, but it's 5.5k so that doesn't leave you much room for audio and stabilization. canon's xf105 is also a good camera. just putting some other options out there
 
i just rented a 85mm ef f1.2 lens for a music video i was shooting and to say the least it was amazing on a 7d if i had that much money i would buy one if not i would recomend renting one for way less
 
Thats too sick! But my only thought is that for parties you might be better off with a fisheye than an ultra-wide angle like the 11-16, when you look at hip-hop videos they're mostly filmed with a fisheye. If you have $5000 why not splurge. Your other option is the tokina 10-17 but I don't know much about that lens.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/732107-USA/Canon_4427B002_EF_8_15mm_f_4L_Fisheye.html

I want this so badly but there is absolutely no way I could justify spending that much on such a specialized lens, I'm the same way with primes.
 
Mount them EVERYWHERE.

Here's my list:

Sticking with DSLR: 5DMKII or III

Heading to vidcam: HPX

Heading to vidcam with interchangeable lenses: AF100 vs FS100. Can't help you on that one, but if you want, let Philip Bloom blab at you

https://vimeo.com/23294197

https://vimeo.com/23344796

Cheers man, good luck. Do your research and get as much for your money as you can. Just because you have money to spend, doesn't mean you can't buy used or refurbished if the purchase is right.
 
If you're looking for a camera to shoot clubs/parties an fs100 would be your cam, or the 5dmkIII. they both have amazing lowlight.

I would completely ditch the idea of an af100... the fs100 is superior at the same price. You can get used fs100s for like 4g and then you can pick up some lenses and youre good. The fs700 would be sick but thats 8g for the body... significantly more.
 
For 5k plus whatever you sell your T2i for you could make the switch to a full frame body and glass. 5dmkIII would be sick. How into photography are you?
 
As everyone has said, Canon 5D III has crazy good low light performance and little noise at very high ISO values.

hopefully this video embed works...

Canon 5D Mark II vs. Mark III vs. Nikon D800 - Candlelight: High-ISO from Joe Marine on Vimeo.

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Pretty good comparison video I found.

I would argue that a 5D mkIII with a 50mm f/1.2 might be the best low light performance for and DSLR...would cost 5k together new and wouldn't allow for much else, but just an idea. Good luck in your search man!
 
while it is a great combo, I feel like he might get more use out of 24mm f1.4l than the 50mm f1.2l if it is for party edits. the 24 is the widest fast prime I can remember. He could also do a 5d mark 3 with a set of rokinons (24, 35, 85, all f1.4). It also depends what lenses he already has. Also, some sort of stabilization would be great, like a shoulder stock (not a full shoulder rig), or a glide cam depending on the type of party (if there is a stage or not etc.). just some ideas
 
there are plenty wider primes. zeiss makes an 18 and nikon makes a 14 that you can use with an adapter
 
Alright thanks for the help! What would be my best choice(in this $ range) for video cam or hdslr if need good low light performance wasn't a factor?
 
I meant that are wide and still fast. Obviously there are wider ones, plus fisheyes. Even the tokina 11-16 can be used with an adapter. I was saying that the 24mm f1.4 is the widest fast lens that came to mind. those other lenses are good, but he already said he wanted to do a lot of lowlight stuff, and a wide angle is useful for indoor/party stuff
 
fs100, hands down. if you can wait for the end of june when the fs700 starts to ship, the fs100 will most likely drop in price (although I hope not)
 
Not gonna claim that I know alot about cameras, because i dont, but this might be something worth taking a look at, looks pretty nice to me.

Black Magic Digital Cinema Camera

-large dynamic range, shoots 2.5k raw, decent low light (but not as good as the 5dmkii it seems)

-$2995

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/

http://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/blackmagic-cinema-camera-lets-take-it-from-the-top/

https://www.newschoolers.com/ns/forums/readthread/thread_id/690364/

then you still have 2 grand to spend on lenses, acessories, etc!

note: if any of this is someone someone please chime in and correct me
 
I looked into this a little bit, but factor in the price you have to pay for a more than decent PC, and storage up the arse (talking 10TB+, 1TB holds ~2hrs of footage), SSDs, Expensive wide angle EF lenses, HD-SDI -> HDMI converter for monitoring, 1/4" to XLR cables + audio setup, awkward rigging, etc, etc...

fucking EF mount, should have made it a S16 sensor and thrown PL or C mount on that bitch!
 
interchangeable, and that thing would be sold out forever. I believe you can still use ef-s lenses, like the beloved tokina 11-16, which should give something close to 24-28mm. I was under the impression that editing would almost be less processor intensive because there is no compression, but the high nitrate may negate that. either way, it looks cool, but fs100 looks like the ideal cam for op
 
definitely not, to process ALL the information that is in each image sequence (its like 3.2MB/Frame or so) requires a LOT of CPU, RAM, and GPU power. Why do you think RED had to make their own graphics card to handle their footage?

Yes, OP, you want a fs100 for sure.
 
this, upgrade ur glidecam to support the weight, get a nice and fast wide prime, get a good audio recorder, and ur pretty much good to go
 
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